Speakers at a conference on Tuesday said the nutritional scenario is deteriorating as 45 percent of the child deaths in Pakistan are due to malnutrition. They was addressing 26th All Pakistan Food Science Conference arranged by National Institute of Food Science, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) in collaboration with Pakistan Society of Food Scientists and Technologists.

Addressing on the occasion, UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that the country is facing a crisis of malnutrition that was among the worst in the world. He said that 32.7 per cent of the children suffered from an iron deficiency, 30.3 per cent from a vitamin-A and 40 per cent from a zinc deficiency. He called for food fortification to address the issue of food security. He said that changes in the lifestyle were aggravating the issue. He called for making the exercise and walk in the routine that will help lead to the healthy life. He said that establishment of Punjab Food Authority would help ensure the quality food for the people.

Faculty of Food, Nutrition and Home Sciences, UAF, Dean Prof Dr Masood Sadiq Butt said that in the world, two billion people survive on diets that lack the vital vitamins and nutrients. He said under-nutrition, including micronutrient malnutrition, is one of the main causes of impaired physical and mental development among infants and children. He called for scaling up wheat flour fortification to protect future generations from nutrient deficiency. Society President Prof Dr Faqir Anjum said that the country population was standing at the seven billion which will touch nine billion in 2050. He said that the we are losing three percent of Gross Domestic Product due to malnutrition. He said that most of the country was living in the worst poverty line with 1.1 dollar per day per person.

Prof Dr Muhammad Shafique Ch said that the malnutrition was one of the causes of the deaths in the children. He called for stepping up the efforts for the food fortification in order to fight the challenges of malnutrition. He urged the scientists, experts, NGOs and all stakeholders for the noble cause. Dr Tahir Zahoor said that only five percent of the food items are being value added. Witht the value addition, the country can earn heavy foreign exchange.