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Quarters of All Low Birth Weight Infants Born in South Asia
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Urdu Version
"Almost three quarters of all the world's low birth weight (LWB) infants,
are born in South Asia," said Prof Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Chairman
Department of Paediatrics, Aga Khan University (AKU) at a seminar
on Infant and Childhood Nutrition at Aga Khan University on Thursday.
"Despite numerous advances and improvements in child health globally,
malnutrition still remains a major problem, with most cases occurring
in South Asia," he said.
Addressing the seminar, a part of AKU's Continued Medical Education
series, Professor Bhutta informed that in other parts of the world,
high rates of HIV threaten to reverse all the gains made by child
survival programme, increasing malnutrition. Such overt forms of malnutrition
do not reflect the true burden of malnutrition, especially micro nutrition,
in developing countries.
Professor Abdul Gaffar Billoo, Department of Paediatrics pointed out
the need for educating mothers about breast feeding. "In a country
like Pakistan, where more than 90% of mothers want to breast feed,
only less than 20% end up with exclusive breast feeding," he said.
More than 10 years after Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI),
majority of mothers have problems with optimum breast feeding practices
which needs to be addressed, he emphasised. "Second important component
of infant feeding is weaning practices. Here also very wide knowledge
and practice gaps exist which need to be addressed all over the country.
Physicians and health care providers can play key role in educating
mothers for improving the infant feeding practices," Dr Billoo concluded.
Professor S. Q. Nizami, a leading paediatrician added, "Malnutrition
is classified nowadays as underweight, wasted, stunted and sever malnutrition
as marasmas or kwashiorkor. The deficiencies are however interlinked
and seldom occur in isolation. He recommended that diet should be
least expensive, culturally acceptable, and nutritious. It should
include meat, cereals and oils followed by vegetables and fruits.
"Commercially prepared food items are expensive to use and offer no
added advantage over home made food " he stated.
Speaking on "Obesity in Children," Dr Uzma Shah, Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatrics said, "From 24 to 75 per cent children today
are obese and as adolescents will become obese adults. Risk factor
such as cardiac diseases and type-2 diabetes Mellitus are found to
be associated with Obesity. "Although Heredity is a vital factor but
environmental factors such as food intake and physical activity are
also major contributors to obesity," she said.
The quality of its educational initiatives has made AKU a role model
for other institutions in the region. When reviewing existing programmes
or adding new ones, AKU ensures the attributes of quality, relevance
and impact are kept in mind.
Urdu
Version
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