Nutrition picture and the needs
Friday, 15 January 2010
Higher food grains production cannot be the only benchmark for claiming a higher level of nutrition of the population which ought to be the main goal.
Per head availability of protein and vital nourishing foods such as fish, animal meat, poultries, dairy produces, etc., have been falling in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the mountains of rice stocks notwithstanding, purchasing power of the common people in many cases have hardly improved to the extent for them to buy food grains at prices they can afford. The nutrition picture in Bangladesh to which is vitally linked the health and vitality of its workforce and economic growth, remains actually rather bleak.
It has been found that 58 per cent new-born babies in Bangladesh are underweight as the mothers suffer from poor calorie intakes during the child-bearing period. The malnutrition of mothers and children do not end there. It continues after birth with the result that neither the mother nor the children--the future citizens of the country-- grow up into healthy adults. Such young adults are not to be considered as possessing enough vitality to contribute gainfully to the workforce of the country.
The workforce is ready to perform at optimum level when its members are physically free from handicaps and mentally enjoy a similar state. But unfortunately, too many in the workforce in Bangladesh fall short on both counts and certainly this does not augur well for its economy. According to one estimate, monetary loss to the economy due to malnutrition could reach up to 23 billion US dollars for Bangladesh in the next 10 years.
Therefore, attention to nutrition issues and programmes to improve the nutritional picture assume critical importance and these ought to be essentially looked at from the perspective of setting the stage for economic growth and development and nothing short.
A N M Sinha
Iqbal Road
Mohammadpur, Dhaka
Per head availability of protein and vital nourishing foods such as fish, animal meat, poultries, dairy produces, etc., have been falling in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the mountains of rice stocks notwithstanding, purchasing power of the common people in many cases have hardly improved to the extent for them to buy food grains at prices they can afford. The nutrition picture in Bangladesh to which is vitally linked the health and vitality of its workforce and economic growth, remains actually rather bleak.
It has been found that 58 per cent new-born babies in Bangladesh are underweight as the mothers suffer from poor calorie intakes during the child-bearing period. The malnutrition of mothers and children do not end there. It continues after birth with the result that neither the mother nor the children--the future citizens of the country-- grow up into healthy adults. Such young adults are not to be considered as possessing enough vitality to contribute gainfully to the workforce of the country.
The workforce is ready to perform at optimum level when its members are physically free from handicaps and mentally enjoy a similar state. But unfortunately, too many in the workforce in Bangladesh fall short on both counts and certainly this does not augur well for its economy. According to one estimate, monetary loss to the economy due to malnutrition could reach up to 23 billion US dollars for Bangladesh in the next 10 years.
Therefore, attention to nutrition issues and programmes to improve the nutritional picture assume critical importance and these ought to be essentially looked at from the perspective of setting the stage for economic growth and development and nothing short.
A N M Sinha
Iqbal Road
Mohammadpur, Dhaka