Women across South Asia lack nutrition care - UNICEF

"Women's nutrition needs special attention. Governments need to look at how we can provide healthy diet and lifestyle options. We must strive towards a collective effort that involves health providers, community-based workers, families, schools, and mothers themselves.” - Amjad Hussain Sial, Secretary-General of SAARC

UNICEF has taken a keen interest in one of the growing situations across South Asia, the lack of nutritional for care the women. UNICEF in a press release states that the progress of improving nutritional care for women in South Asia during and after pregnancy is slow, impacting on their children's survival, growth, and development. Due to this reason, they have prepared a 3-day regional conference in Kathmandu this week, organized jointly with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Reports have revealed that poor nutrition deprives women of their health and well-being and that over one-third of the world’s anemic women living in South Asia. Anemia is a condition that develops when your blood does not contain enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin. These cells are important for carrying oxygen around the body. According to the press release, as a result children born to these poor maternal nutritional women are small and start life at a huge disadvantage as they are most likely to become wasted or stunted in early life, do less well at school, earn lower wages in adulthood and suffer diabetes and chronic heart diseases later in life.

“Gaps in national policies, programs, and care services during pregnancy, combined with poverty and customary practices mean that women fail to receive the nutritional care they need for a healthy pregnancy.” - Jean Gough, Regional Director for UNICEF in South Asia