The government will appoint nutritionists at public hospitals to improve the current nutrition condition of the country, health directorate officials said.
The director general of health services, Khondaker M Shefyetullah, on Thursday said that they had already sent a proposal to the health ministry in this regard.
'The posts of the nutritionists are yet to be created. The ministry will send the proposal to the establishment ministry,' he said.
Shefyetullah said, 'We have decided to appoint nutritionists primarily at medical college hospitals, specialised hospitals and post-graduate hospitals.'
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, talked about the need for nutritionists at hospitals when she launched the World Breastfeeding Week in August 2010.
The decision followed her instruction for the appointment of nutritionists at hospitals for proper diets and nutrition counselling, he said.
The UNICEF National Report Bangladesh 2008 said that because of malnutrition, about 46 per cent of the babies aged below five are not as tall as they should be. It also said that because of the same reason, 15 per cent of the children are skinny and 40 per cent of them are under-weight in accordance with their age.
The report also said that children in rural areas are suffering more from malnutrition compared with the children in urban areas.
Source : New Age
