When the present is haunting and the future darkening- the quiet theft has won. To waste life away and to choke a child’s breath before it ever truly lived is a misery which creeps into a cradle as acute malnutrition.
To glimpse what is out of reach, is a distressing display of hopelessness. When a ten-month-old infant named Halema arrived at the hospital in Peshawar, her fragile body weighed merely six kilograms- unnatural for an average infant. She was diagnosed to be dying of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). In accordance with quick action, a medical miracle revealed itself through clinical stabilization for dehydration and underlying infection, rehabilitation via high-calorie Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), and maintenance paired with maternal education. While Halema snuck out of the near-fatal experience, others may not be so lucky. Our children are forced to become the ghosts that vaporise into nothingness. The war of neglect and innocence is a catastrophic exhibition. An ordeal of slow poisoning.
Child malnutrition is making its way to orchestrate the utter shambles our nation is diving into. It poses a severe risk. The conditions include deficiencies, excesses, stunting, and inaccessibility to nutrients. The factors that strengthen the silent disease are early marriages, low birth weight, food insecurity, poor sanitation, socio-economic statuses and lack of proper knowledge. According to UNICEF, nearly 10 million Pakistani children are suffering from stunting. Authorities on hunger monitoring analysed that in late 2026 over 2.7 million children aged under 5 in Pakistan will be suffering from the hollowing conditions. So as we live, the statistics are the truth. The time to act, has it passed away?
This reveals the insincerity to the people, and the promise to accomplish United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Zero Hunger and Good Health and Well-being were inclusive of the goals that were adopted in 2015. We fall back down the trail once more as we stand 131st out of 169 countries in 2026. This is the rhythm that’s expected to be outrightly overpowered.
However, has our incapability ever been understood? To follow a methodology that cherishes the mighty- that we are structurally not- requires a performance we can not offer unless nuanced notices are upheld. The nation exists under the umbrella of fragmented policymaking, emergencies and inadequate governance. Without accommodation to our realities, how are the ‘developing’ countries dehumanised and subjected to standardised blueprints? To shame the nation for its predictable failures is common hypocrisy. For seeking true solutions does not lie in universalised practices.
A daunting life awaits those who have been struck to the mercy of a post-colonialist, capitalist and emotionless structure.
Pakistan has the highest cases of child malnutrition in comparison to other developing countries. This owes to the inheritance of an ‘overdeveloped state’. Hamza Alavi explored why post colonial countries struggled with control. To extract resources, the colonisers built administrative systems that were delegated to independent states. An otherwise powerful structure, but foregoes social welfare. This design encapsulated all.
The crisis unfolds to categorise it as a ‘post-colonial and post-development’ challenge. The 2024 study in PMC established the interlink of the overdeveloped state and the failure of SDGs to correspond to rooted inequalities.The colonial legacies erased the traditional knowledge and food practices. The top-down policies consistently overlook them. Profit maximisation favours capitalistic interference in public health, which harms vulnerable mothers and children. It extends to the IMF and World Bank strategies that fit into similar standards that states enforce- centering elitism. The economy deteriorates due to aggressive cuts which limits household purchasing power and drives relevant drawbacks. We fail to achieve apt targets as a developing nation adhering to international standards.
The window has turned grimey. To look out without the patronising system looming over us is a fantasy. It refuses to care for us. We are utterly detached.
To hear the pleas of common, decentralising is a consideration. Empower the local networks and protect their accessibility. Grassroots and international bodies are to cooperate which can shift the budgetary priorities to ensure welfare is the custom. Reforming sectors and frameworks is a dire step. Quality treatment and consideration of traditions and natural disasters needs to replace imported mechanisms. The intersection of variables is a necessity to secure children.
What must grow into sparkling smiles and hearty dreams, grows into a carcass. The vulture is not one, and to direct the strike is a conscious action, to be taken immediately.
