Increase of malnourished mothers, children

KABUL (TOLOnews): The Ministry of Public Health said that the number of malnourished mothers and children in the country has slightly increased compared to past years.

According to the director of the ministry’s public nutrition department, more than 896,000 children and over 444000 breastfeeding and pregnant women have visited malnutrition treatment centers since the start of the 1402 solar year. “444,541 mothers have been included in the program for treatment, and out of these, nearly 200,000 children have been treated. 449,000 children with moderate malnutrition have been treated,” said Mohammad Wazir Hamid, head of the nutrition department.

“The patient’s family should pay attention when a child is born at home, they should pay a lot of attention from the very first day of birth, which is to give them their own milk,” said Mohammad Arif Hassan, a doctor. Ten-month-old Hedayatullah has been malnourished for the past two months. His mother said that she cannot give healthy food to her child due to economic challenges.

“My child is malnourished, and our economic situation is not good. My husband is working in a cart and does not have a job, that is why my son is malnourished,” said Farzana, the mother of the child. Meanwhile, some residents of Helmand and Uruzgan provinces also said that due to economic challenges and lack of healthy food, their children are suffering from nutritional diseases.

“We cannot provide the children with the food they need,” said Sayed Reza, a resident of Uruzgan. According to figures from the Ministry of Public Health’s Department of Public Nutrition, in the 1401 solar year, 1,963,621 children and 845,155 pregnant and breastfeeding women visited malnutrition treatment centers across the nation.