Eighty-seven percent of the people in the country have the ability to purchase nutritious food, while 13 percent do not, according to a joint report published by the World Food Programme (WFP).
This groundbreaking figure emerged in the report titled ‘Fill the Nutrition Gap,’ jointly prepared by the Government of Bangladesh and WFP.
The report contains detailed information and analysis on the availability of nutritious food and the extent to which sections of people can afford it.
At the beginning of the report, Bangladesh's success in minimizing nutritional problems is illustrated.
In the last 21 years, since 1997, where 60 percent of children in the country were malnourished, it dropped to 31 percent in 2018. However, the number of infected children is still high in the global context. This problem is a major hurdle to building a healthy future generation of a country.
Professor Shamsul Alam, a member of the Planning Commission and senior secretary, said, the government is satisfied with the improvement in the nutritional status of the country. In order to improve nutritional status, various social security programs are being taken to provide maternity allowance, and nutritional education to children in education.
However, ordinary people also need to be aware of. If they understand bread, burgers, and sweets as good and nutritious foods, the opposite will happen. Instead of reducing nutrition, obesity will increase, he added.
Alpha Bah, the Deputy Country Director of WFP Bangladesh Office, said it was imperative to provide nutritious food to families suffering from poverty and food insecurity under various social security programs.
The report says that 11.3 percent of Bangladesh's population is poor and cannot afford to buy the nutrients they need. The list of balanced nutritious foods includes rice, bread, vegetables, fish, meat, milk, eggs and oils, he added.
The report also points to another aspect of Bangladesh's food situation. In the country, about 8 percent of food is wasted annually.
The report presents challenges for the nutritional situation in Bangladesh in the coming days. It is said that as the income of the people of the country is increasing, the demand for meat, fruit, and milk will increase 20 to 25 percent in the next 10 years. But at the time, the production of vegetables and agricultural products in the country may increase by only 5 percent.
In this regard, Alpha Wah said that the government has taken several steps to make people poverty-free for more than three decades. Government investment in the nutrition sector has been fruitful. Therefore, the pace of economic development and productivity has also accelerated.
SK Roy, nutritionist, and president of the Bangladesh Nutrition Association (BNA) said that the main reason for the improvement of the nutrition situation in Bangladesh is not economic. The lack of knowledge of the nutrition and food of the people of the country is largely responsible for this.
People are buying less nutritious food at higher prices. More initiatives need to be taken by the government to increase people's perception of nutritious food, he added.