Training for Journalists on Nutrition and Health

The Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) in collaboration with Nestlé Pakistan organized a two day workshop for nutrition and health reporters on "Basics of Nutrition and Health Reporting: Nutrition as a source of News”. The training was attended by more than twenty print, broadcast and digital journalists from various media organizations.

The workshop was led by CEJ director Kamal Siddiqi with a host of guest speakers including nutritionists, policy experts as well as senior journalists. The course targeted entry and mid-level journalists covering health and business beats.

The training elaborated on the nutrition profile of Pakistan and highlighted the reasons which make nutrition such a crucial issue in Pakistan. There were sessions on Pakistan’s health system and policies, its particular issues with a special focus on nutrition as a source of news, in a country where malnutrition is widespread. More than 11 million children under 5 are chronically malnourished, and have their brain development and immune systems impaired, with life-long consequences.

Speaking on the occasion, Kamal Siddiqui, Director CEJ said: “Nutrition and health are very important areas but are generally neglected when it comes to reporting. That is why we need to work with journalists so that they can work on them and do better reporting,”

Participants examined the existing health and nutrition-related news in media, and discussed the gaps in reporting and ways to fill these gaps.

Commenting on the training, Waqar Ahmad, Head of Corporate Affairs said, “Nestlé Pakistan is keen to highlight the importance of nutrition. Malnutrition is a core issue in our country. It leads to a decreased productivity in our workforce and costly inefficiencies. We endeavor to play a key role in helping address this issue. In 2016, Nestlé Pakistan served 4.6 billion fortified servings through our products containing essential micronutrients; Iron, Zinc, Vitamin A and Iodine”