In Sindh, 48pc of children under five suffer from malnutrition and 20pc from its most severe form called “wasting”.<\/p>\n
Clutching their hungry babies, a group of mothers mix a semolina dish under the guidance of a teacher, an attempt to curb malnutrition, which affects nearly one in two children in Sindh.<\/p>\n
Despite Sindh being home to the mega port city of Karachi, the financial centre of the country that sprawls along the Arabian coastline, children in rural areas just a few hours away face stark levels of wasting and stunting.<\/p>\n
In the arid village of Sujawal, lethargic children with prominent bones wilt in the searing heat as social workers educate mothers on nutrient-rich ingredients and dispel myths around food.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore, we only gave our children potatoes because they were always available at home,\u201d said Shahnaz, 25, who has radically changed the diet of her six children, weak and frequently sick, after a year of classes.<\/p>\n
Now, convinced that children should eat a varied diet, she has introduced affordable ingredients such as lentils and semolina into her cooking, lifting her daughter out of malnutrition.<\/p>\n
In impoverished rural Sindh, 48 per cent of children under five suffer from malnutrition and 20pc from its most severe form, wasting, according to the latest national survey on the issue conducted in 2018.<\/p>\n
In this class, Azma, a social worker, shows mothers how to cook with semolina \u2014 easily available in the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cSemolina is cheap \u2014 for 50 rupees it can last a week if you\u2019re feeding one to two spoonfuls daily to a six-month-old child,\u201d she explained to AFP.<\/p>\n
In Sindh, a province of 55 million people where contraception remains taboo and large families are the norm, 3,500 mothers have benefited from cooking classes developed by UNICEF.<\/p>\n
Like many mothers in the area, Kulsoom, 23 and pregnant with her sixth child, all born prematurely and underweight, once only fed her children pieces of fried flatbread.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my children died, and my youngest is extremely weak, so I was advised to take these classes,\u201d said Kulsoom, who goes by only one name, like most women in her district.<\/p>\n
This photograph taken on July 29, 2025 shows a female doctor (C) examining a woman during a UNICEF nutrition programme at Fateh Muhammad Soomro village in the Sujawal district of Sindh. \u2014 AFP\n <\/p>\n
No spices<\/p>\n Parents are recommended to feed babies solid foods from about six months old, but in rural Sindh, this often means adult leftovers, too spicy for young stomachs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main problem is the lack of dietary diversity,\u201d says Mazhar Iqbal, a nutritionist for UNICEF.<\/p>\n In Pakistan, 38pc of children eat only two or fewer of the eight food categories recommended by UNICEF<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meat is saved for special occasions, yet inexpensive protein alternatives exist, such as chicken offal, boiled bones, lentils and beans.<\/p>\n As for fruit and vegetables, they are usually fried, losing their nutrients.<\/p>\n Bakhtawar Kareem joined the programme after her child died of anaemia.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no money. Sometimes we eat, sometimes we don\u2019t,\u201d she lamented, scanning the swollen belly of her one-year-old daughter, who has only sparse clumps of hair.<\/p>\n Like 72pc of children in the village, her daughter has stunting, well above the average rate in Pakistan of 42pc \u2014 one of the highest in the world.<\/p>\n Stunting is most closely associated with brain development and physical growth, and can have long-term physical and mental impacts.<\/p>\n