Nutrition-focused reforms integrated in MBBS, BDS curricula

2026-02-16 - 15:46

The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has launched comprehensive nutrition-centred reforms across health sciences curricula to strengthen preventive healthcare capacity in Punjab, officials said after a meeting chaired on Monday by Vice Chancellor Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore. Under the plan, reforms will extend beyond classrooms. All affiliated colleges will establish Nutrition Societies to promote awareness among students, while a Clinical Nutrition Faculty Council will guide ongoing academic review and research integration. Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Nadia Naseem, Prof Zohra Khanum, Principal of Services Institute of Medical Sciences, and Prof Junaid Rashid, Pro-VC of the University of Child Health Sciences, along with faculty members from public health, nutrition and family medicine departments, attended the meeting. The reforms, developed in collaboration with UNICEF Pakistan, integrate structured nutrition competencies into MBBS and other undergraduate and postgraduate programmes so future clinicians can assess nutritional status, detect deficiencies early and incorporate preventive dietary counselling into routine care. The meeting also reviewed related initiatives, including a certification course in family medicine for general practitioners aimed at strengthening maternal and child health services at the primary care level. In addition, a dedicated geriatric clinic is being set up at the Services Institute of Medical Sciences to assess nutrition-related decline among older adults and promote healthy ageing through evidence-based care. Prof Rathore said the initiative was designed to respond to gaps in national health evidence. Existing surveys provide useful direction but lack detailed data on elderly nutrition and limited information on adolescent girls during critical growth years. Academic institutions must prepare doctors who can address these realities even before new datasets emerge,” he stated. He added that embedding clinical nutrition into mainstream teaching would help shift healthcare from treatment toward prevention. Participants noted that Pakistan’s most recent comprehensive national nutrition data dates back to 2018, which underscores the need for updated research and stronger clinical capacity. They said the revised curricula position nutrition as a core clinical competency rather than a supplementary topic. Prof Rashid stressed that dietary habits within households were shaping child health outcomes. He warned that frequent intake of processed foods and refined products is increasingly linked with obesity, metabolic disorders and earlier puberty, urging parents to reconsider routine food choices at home. Participants agreed that the combined measures reflected a broader institutional shift toward prevention-focused medical education, with nutrition positioned as a key determinant of health across the life course, from early childhood to old age. PHC joins hands with PITB to implement PayZen Fintech System