Pressures of work, academia and lifestyle have pushed many young adults in urban areas to the brink of malnutrition

The government launches nutrition programmes at various places in the country from time to time to make the public aware of the importance of nutrition and often also to provide the needy with nutritious food and other services.

These programmes are often launched in collaboration with UN agencies. For example, at present the authorities in Panchthar district have launched a programme aimed at fighting malnutrition in 10 VDCs which are at high risk of malnutrition.

The objective of this programme is to change the nutritional status of women and children. The programme seeks to first identify the pregnant women in the targeted VDCs and then to provide them with regular health checkup, distribution of food, etc.

and regularly vaccinate them and their infants. In a country like Nepal where poverty is common and health facilities and public awareness of health are inadequate, such programmes come in useful.

Nutritional programmes aimed at pregnant women or new mothers will help take care of both women and their infants.

The need for the State paying particular attention to the nutritional needs of the various segments of society cannot be over-emphasised in such a country.

But such sporadic schemes while helpful cannot substitute for ensuring that people have easy access to all these things at all times. Most people will anyway be left out of the benefits as the government cannot cover all at all times through such short-term programmes.

Just a few days ago, pictures of children wasted by malnutrition in one or two remote districts in Nepal made the headlines, which a person would be more likely to take to be pictures from some impoverished African countries instead of from inside Nepal.

But malnutrition of one kind or other in which the body lacks one or more important vital substances, causing some kind of disease or deformity also occurs in those who can afford to pay.

This may arise through a lack of full awareness of personal health care and failing to take in all the requisite substances through a regular balanced diet.

A recent study has indeed come up with findings that pressures of work, academia and lifestyle have pushed many young adults in urban areas to the brink of malnutrition.

It reports that more and more adolescents and young adults suffer from various eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia and many even do not have time to cook for themselves as they struggle to balance work and college.

Many students have to work to earn to pay for their education, and many of them have also to help to support their family.

Therefore, to ensure a balanced diet for themselves often becomes an uphill task for these students. Some people fail to make a balanced diet through negligence as well.

According to a report of the Adolescent Nutrition Survey in Nepal, 71 per cent adolescent boys and 59 per cent adolescent girls are malnourished. So the problem of malnutrition cuts across the urban-rural and the hill-mountain-Terai divides.

All this calls for concerted government actions, including increased involvement of the various agencies working in the field, to first raise awareness of balanced diet and the dangers from the lack of it, and also help poor people in material terms to overcome the problem of malnutrition, besides undertaking other necessary tasks.

Lost but found

A woman had inadvertently left her handbag with Rs. 80,000 in cash and also five tolas of gold in a taxi when she was travelling Sunday to Sundhara from the new bus park.

Fortunately, for her the police handed over the lost handbag after receiving it from a taxi driver. But not all passengers are lucky as this woman for many passengers leave money and other valuables and also important documents behind when they reach their destination.

Those commuting by taxis should be cautious and be careful not to leave their valuables.

The police manage to recover about 80 per cent of the lost items in such cases and they are looking into the other remaining ones after being informed.

It is recommended that all those who travel in taxis to note down their registration number. In fact, they should do this as a habit so that the lost belongings can easily be recovered by the police.

Most taxi drivers are not as honest as the one who returned the handbag and gold.

We should praise this taxi driver and also many others who have returned passengers their belongings they carelessly abandon in taxis.