Malnutrition: Where does India Stand

The Food and Nutrition Security Analysis, India, 2019 report authored by the Government of India and the United Nations World Food Programme has again underlined a sad picture of hunger and malnutrition amongst children in large pockets of India.

The report states that the poorest sections of society are caught in a trap of poverty and malnutrition and is being passed on from generation to generation. Mother’s battling with hunger and malnourished produce children who are stunted, underweight and unlikely to develop to achieve their full human potential.

Vicious Cycle from generation to generation

• The effects of malnourishment in children are not just physical. A developing brain deprived of nutrients does not reach its full mental potential.
• Malnourishment may cause direct structural damage to the brain and by impairing infant motor development the child’s ability to learn at school is affected adversely leading to a lifetime of poverty and lack of opportunity.
• As a result, these children would do poorly in school and subsequently have low incomes, high fertility, and provide poor care for their children, thus contributing to the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Progress made over the last decade

• The proportion of children with chronic malnutrition has decreased from 48% per cent in 2005-06 to 38.4% in 2015-16.
• The percentage of underweight children decreased has from 42.5% in 2005-06 to 35.7% 2005-06.
• Instances of Anaemia in young children have decreased from 69.5% to 58.5% during this period.

But the progress is small.

National Nutrition Mission (Poshan Abhiyaan)

The National Nutrition Mission aims to reduce stunting by 2% a year, bringing down the proportion of stunted children in the population to 25% by 2022. Going by the current trends India needs to double the current annual rate of reduction in stunting.

Apathy of Executive

• The minutes of recent meetings of the Executive Committee of Poshan Abhiyaan doesn’t show encouraging trends. State and Union Territory governments have only used 16% of the funds allocated to them.
• Also, there has been not much progress in introducing fortified rice and milk as envisioned under the scheme.
• Anganwadi’s are the backbones in the distribution of services to mothers and children. In many states, including Bihar and Odisha, with large vulnerable populations, the administrative machinery is struggling to set up functioning anganwadis, and recruit staff.

Stunting and malnourishment do not start with the child, but with the mother. An adolescent girl who is malnourished and anaemic tends to be a mother who is malnourished and anaemic. This inurn increases the chances of her child being stunted. Hence there is a need for an integrated approach in tackling malnutrition.