Although Bhutan has made significant progress in reducing poverty, malnutrition remains a major challenge in the country. Malnutrition refers to a lack of proper diets which leads to inconsistent growth and stunting. This is because not many Bhutanese consume nutritious diet. According to Fill the Nutrient Gap Analysis report, at least 27% of the households cannot afford a nutritious diet that consists of fruits and vegetables.
Poor dietary quality and overconsumption of rice are the main reasons for malnutrition in the country. As per the analysis report, people need to diversify and increase their intake of fruits and vegetables. The report highlights that many households cannot access nutritious fruits, vegetables and animal source foods. It says the cost of nutritious diet is four times more than the cost of meeting only energy needs.
The World Food Programme in collaboration with multiple stakeholders such as the Health Ministry, Education Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, and other partners carried out the Fill the Nutrient Gap analysis.
“This assessment, Fill the Nutrient Gap looks at the barriers to families accessing food, the availability, the realisation of it as well as the affordability. So, the cost of a nutritious diet is what we are looking at. What we do is we take the household expenditure on food, and we look at the food that is available in Bhutan, the prices of it and whether a family can take the food that is available to create a nutritious diet,” said Carrie Morrison, the Country Director and Representative of WFP.
“When the population continues to have nutrient deficient status, then it affects the physical and cognitive development of a child. And that compromises the national human capital,” said Health Minister Dechen Wangmo.
The minister added that to address malnutrition the government has encouraged exclusive breastfeeding whereby the baby is only fed breast milk till six months. The health ministry also provided sachet for children above six months, which is a small packet of vitamins and minerals given for free of cost.
“Two years ago, the government initiated the Sprinkles Project whereby we know that a lot of our children are nutrient deficient. So, we have been providing this sachet with micro nutrients to start complementary feeding. And at the adolescent level, we are using the initiative of the Prime Minister, the Healthy Druk Yul, the initiative to disseminate information for young teenagers to make the right choices such as choosing an apple over apple juice,” added the Health Minister.
In the report, the stakeholders are recommending the health, education and food systems to step up efforts. The report suggests health system to introduce multiple micronutrient supplements especially for adolescent girls, nuns and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The report also recommends education system to utilise schools to establish healthy habits early in life through nutrition education and provision of diverse and healthy school meals. Besides, it recommends the food system to promote market-led production of nutritious crops and livestock to improve dietary diversity and strengthen the agriculture information management system to monitor price and availability of nutritious foods weekly, including in rural and urban markets.
Kelzang Choden
Edited by Phub Gyem
