The World World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that many Pakistani children are stunted and severely malnourished, while approximately 6-8 percent of children under ten are obese and overweight because of unhealthy lifestyles, poor diet, and physical inactivity.
The organization disclosed the above during the three-day ‘3rd International Lifestyle Medical Conference 2022’, organized by the Riphah International University (RIU) in collaboration with the Pakistan Association of Lifestyle Medicine (PALM), held on Thursday.
The WHO representative to Pakistan, Dr. Palitha Mahipala, expressed that the recent lifestyle changes around the world have caused an increase in Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs).
In Pakistan, stunting seems to be the most serious problem regarding nutrition, with a very high threshold for severe acute malnutrition, but obesity is also rising.
He continued that if governments do not take immediate action to promote more physical exercise among their populations, nearly 500 million people will succumb to heart disease, obesity, diabetes, or NCDs because of physical inactivity in the coming decade, which will cost them $27 billion.
Every year, 55 million people die globally, with NCDs, or lifestyle diseases, accounting for 41 million (70%) deaths.
Only cardiovascular diseases are responsible for 17.5 million deaths worldwide. Tobacco use is the leading major risk for this lifestyle disease after an unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.
He also claimed that approximately 50% of women in Pakistan are overweight, with the remainder suffering from nutritional deficiencies. He advocated for increased spending on lifestyle medicine, health promotion, and disease prevention.