As many as 40% of children in Pakistan are either overweight or obese, mainly due to a sedentary lifestyle, excessive screen time, and an unhealthy diet..
According to a study by the state-run Pakistan Health Commission (PHC) in 2018, over 11% of children in the country were overweight and more than 5% were obese.
However, several hospital-based studies and surveys paint a grimmer picture, with findings that 40%-50% of children in the South Asian country are either overweight or obese.
According to Anadolu Agency, Dr. Musarrat Riaz of the Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Baqai Medical University Karachi, has cast doubt on the PHC statistics, calling them "underestimated.”
Riaz, who has been part of such hospital-based and clinical studies on obesity, said the actual figures range between 40% and 50%.
"These studies have shown really alarming numbers,” she said, warning that the number of children who are obese or overweight is rapidly increasing.
Rising childhood obesity is causing a slew of diseases and health complications, she said, fearing that the number of children with obesity issues was likely to rise in the coming years if current lifestyle trends continue.
"A good number of young people aged 20 to 25 years are developing early age diabetes, apart from hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and many harmonic issues because of obesity,” she added.
