LAHORE: Pakistan Poultry Association has urged the government to join hands to raise nutrition levels and remove the deficiency of protein among the children. In response to the World Bank report, stating that almost 45 percent children of 5-15 years in the country are suffering from malnutrition and stunting, the Association has planned to provide chicken and eggs to school children in a number of government schools and if Punjab government provides funds the “chicken serving programme” can be extended across the country to eliminate stunting among 50 million children of Pakistan.

This was suggested by the PPA (NZ) Chairman Dr Abdul Karim while addressing a seminar on “Poultry Development and Bridging the Nutritional Gap” organized by Pakistan Poultry Association in collaboration with Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Tuesday.

Dr Abdul Karim said that PPA in this regard has already launched a pilot project on April 17, 2017 in collaboration with the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, selecting Government Girls Community Model School, Chak no 34, Mundeki, Pattoki for serving chicken and eggs to its all students.

The PPA (NZ) Chairman stated that the food serving programme has been launched as a demonstration keeping in view of the World Bank report with a view to improve child nutrition and reduce stunting among them.

Dr Karim said that PPA wanted to extend this project to all public schools across the country with the support of government to serve the chicken and eggs to around 1.1 million school going children.

He added that poultry sector is the most organized agro-based sectors and poultry farms are available in each and every corner of the country. Hence, the poultry industry can be the best option for the government to launch the food program for school children using PPA platform across the country to control stunting and malnutrition at this stage.

The government food programme will not only end protein deficiency among the children but also help strengthen an agro-based indigenous industry already generating employment for about 1.8 million people mostly in rural areas.

He said poultry sector had been providing affordable and quality poultry products to the masses to fulfill their requirements of animal protein since 1960, contributing 40 percent of the total meat consumption.

He said that average Pakistani consumed 10 kilograms of meat and 90 eggs yearly in comparison to the recommended annual intake of 250-300 eggs and 25-28 kilograms of meat. He said nutritionists recommended people to consume eggs regularly as physical and mental health were dependent on protein.—PR