{"id":4879,"date":"2026-07-30T15:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/?p=4879"},"modified":"2026-07-30T15:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:04:22","slug":"action-against-hunger-warns-that-of-alarming-rates-of-child-malnutrition-in-quetta-action-against-hunger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/?p=4879","title":{"rendered":"Action Against Hunger Warns that of Alarming Rates of Child Malnutrition in Quetta | Action Against Hunger"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>Pakistan<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Population: <strong>251.3 million<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>People Facing Hunger: <strong>40.9 million<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Our Impact<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>People Helped Last Year: <strong>80,831<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Our Team: <strong>13 employees<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Program Start: <strong>1979<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Moderate and severe malnutrition rates in children under that age of five have exceeded emergency thresholds in Quetta, the capital of the Baluchistan Province in Pakistan, according to a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmethodology.org\/smartplus\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SMART+<\/a> nutrition analysis conducted by Action Against Hunger in collaboration with the Department of Health in Baluchistan. The prevalence of combined global acute malnutrition was 29.1%, and severe acute malnutrition was 8.1%, both alarmingly higher than their respective emergency thresholds of 15% and 2%.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSevere acute malnutrition is potentially deadly for children, and it is heartbreaking because it\u2019s a treatable disease when it\u2019s undertaken soon enough,\u201d says Muhammad Aamir, Country Director for Action Against Hunger in Pakistan<\/p>\n<p>Chronic malnutrition also remains widespread, with nearly 36% of children stunted, and 14% of them severely stunted. These findings reflect persistent long-term nutritional deprivation and repeated exposure to adverse health and environ<a href=\"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/?p=4870\" title=\"The Promise and Limits of AI in Mental Healthcare\">mental<\/a> conditions<\/p>\n<p>The analysis found that the worsening nutritional status and food insecurity in Quetta is driven by a convergence of challenges, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lack of adequate diet<\/li>\n<li>High disease burden<\/li>\n<li>Poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions<\/li>\n<li>Strong reliance on unstable income sources and<\/li>\n<li>Environmental shocks, particularly recent droughts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Poor WASH conditions present significant health risks contributing to malnutrition. Heavy reliance on tanker trucks and communal water sources, combined with only 19% of families treating water, heighten the risk of waterborne diseases and repeated infections among children. About 31% of households use inadequate latrines or practice open defecation, and 51% dispose of waste in unofficial dumping sites, increasing environmental contamination.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, the Food Security and Livelihoods portion of the analysis indicates strong reliance on unstable income mited agriculture-based livelihoods. These economic constraints reduce families\u2019 ability to access nutritious diets<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo effectively tackle malnutrition, we need to emphasize a more integrated approach: expanding nutrition services in the most vulnerable communities, strengthening early screening and follow-up at community level, and making sure that every child who needs treatment can access it.\u201d explains Muhammad Aamir. \u201cAt the same time, addressing <a href=\"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/?p=4867\" title=\"What are maternal health inequalities, and how are we stopping them?\">maternal<\/a> malnutrition, promoting better infant and young child feeding practices\u2014especially early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months\u2014will be critical. Integrating care for vulnerable infants under six months into routine maternal, newborn <a href=\"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/?p=4850\" title=\"Opinion: Data disruptions put powerful maternal and child health tool at risk | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health\">child health<\/a> services will also help ensure that those most at risk are identified and supported early, giving them a much better chance of healthy growth and development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among other recommendations, the SMART\u00a0analysis\u00a0report\u00a0emphasizes the need for\u00a0better integration between nutrition and\u00a0WASH\u00a0activities\u00a0to\u00a0reduce\u00a0illness. Strengthening food security and the economic resilience of households through nutrition-sensitive livelihoods, access to social protection,\u00a0and the diversification of income sources\u00a0will also be critical in improving nutrition outcomes in Quetta.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MEDIA CONTACT<\/strong><br \/>\nKara Green<br \/>\nkgreen@actionagainsthunger.org<\/p>\n<h2>Explore More<\/h2>\n<p>News &amp; Stories<br \/>\nLiving Through Sindh\u2019s Water Crisis: Threats to Health and Livelihoods in Pakistan<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PAK-NutHealth-2022-Rimsha-Zain-4-scaled-aspect-ratio-1920-800-538x300-c-center.jpg\" alt=\"\"><br \/>\nNews &amp; Stories<br \/>\nHow Extreme Heat Intensifies Health Problems and Hunger<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kenya-Drought-Lameck-Ododo-Isiolo-11-scaled-aspect-ratio-1920-800-538x300-c-center.jpg\" alt=\"\"><br \/>\nNews &amp; Stories<br \/>\nYear in Photos 2022<\/p>\n<h2>Keep Up with the Action<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Moderate and severe malnutrition rates in children under that age of five have exceeded emergency thresholds in Quetta, the capital of the Baluchistan Province in Pakistan, according to a recent SMART+ nutrition analysis conducted by Action Against Hunger in collaboration with the Department of Health in Baluchistan. The prevalence of combined global acute malnutrition was&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[520,521,522,524,523],"class_list":["post-4879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-parenting","tag-action","tag-against","tag-hunger","tag-that","tag-warns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4882,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4879\/revisions\/4882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumeamara.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}