Coexistence of Under Nutrition and Over Nutrition in Pakistan

aghahosseini, shima sadat

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Volume 12, Issue 4 (Oct-Dec 2025)

Nutr Food Sci Res 2025, 12(4): 1-1

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Coexistence of Under Nutrition and Over Nutrition in Pakistan

Shima sadat Aghahosseini ^*

University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan. , shimaaghahosseini@yahoo.com

Abstract: (253 Views)

Pakistan is currently facing a silent but dangerous public health dilemma: the double burden of malnutrition (DBM). This condition refers to the coexistence of undernutrition and overnutrition within the same population, household, or even individual. At the individual level, early-life undernutrition followed by excess caloric intake in adulthood can lead to adverse metabolic outcomes such as central obesity and insulin resistance. Despite growing attention worldwide, this issue remains underexplored and insufficiently addressed in Pakistan.
According to the Pakistan National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2018 and WHO reports, 40.2% of children under five are stunted, and a significant percentage suffer from wasting and micronutrient deficiencies (1,2). Meanwhile, overweight and obesity rates are rising rapidly, particularly among women and urban adolescents, with over 18% of urban adolescents classified as overweight or obese (3). This paradoxical nutritional shift is a clear indication of a system caught between food insecurity and unhealthy dietary transitions.

Keywords: Nutrition, Pakistan, People

Full-Text [PDF 194 kb] (95 Downloads)

Article type: Editorial | Subject: Nutrition
Received: 2025/08/8 | Accepted: 2025/08/13 | Published: 2025/12/1

References

1. National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) [Pakistan] and ICF. Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18. Islamabad, Pakistan, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: NIPS and ICF; 2019.

2. World Health Organization. Malnutrition. Geneva: WHO; 2021. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malnutrition

3. UNICEF. The State of the World's Children 2019: Children, food and nutrition. New York: United Nations Children's Fund; 2019.

4. Popkin BM, Corvalan C, Grummer-Strawn LM. Dynamics of the double burden of malnutrition and the changing nutrition reality. Lancet. 2020;395(10217):65-74. [DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32497-3]

5. Afshin A, Sur PJ, Fay KA, et al. Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2019;393(10184):1958-72. [DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30041-8]

6. Global Nutrition Report. Nutrition Accountability Framework Progress Report 2023. Bristol, UK: Development Initiatives; 2023.

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aghahosseini S S. Coexistence of Under Nutrition and Over Nutrition in Pakistan. Nutr Food Sci Res 2025; 12 (4) :1-1
URL: http://nfsr.sbmu.ac.ir/article-1-668-en.html

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	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Volume 12, Issue 4 (Oct-Dec 2025)

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