Malnutrition Is A Serious Problem In India
The India Commentary view
View all posts by this Author
By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-10-18 07:56:45
About the Author
The India Commentary view
View all posts by this Author
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) for 2022 is out and the bad news is that India has slipped 6 positions from last year to stand at 107th position in a list of 121 countries. According to the detailed report in GHI, "the level of hunger in India is serious". The authors have claimed they have relied on reports put in public domain by the respective countries. This is true to an extent as the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) had reported earlier this year that more than 20 percent of children in India suffered from serious malnutrition to the effect that they were underweight for their age and not as tall as they should be. This wasting at childhood is a serious problem. But the government has rubbished the report and has questioned the methodology. It is being widely reported that the index is based on a survey and if true, it definitely is not a scietific study.
Technically, the malnutrition factor that leads to wasting does not mean that the children are hungry or government policy does not provide them with food, especailly after the huge free distribution of foodgrain since the pandemic started. What it really means is that even though they might be getting two or more square meals a day, those meals are not nutritious enough to provide them with all that is needed for their proper growth. It is in this respect that instead of quibbling, the government should focus on ensuring that proper and nutritious food is made available to these children to reduce and eliminate wasting.
The government has already introduced Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, a scheme that will address the issue of malnutrition, promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and wellbeing and address nutrition related deficiencies through key strategies, as per the PIB release. With this, it should also work to make the Mid-Day meal scheme more efficient by providing nutritious food to the children, preferably by adding one small meal in the morning along with the lunch that is now being provided. The benefits will far outweigh the costs incurred on such expansion. Also, strict watch must be kept to ensure that the delivery of the Mid-Day meal is proper and there are no leakages. It should let its work do the talking instead of disputing international reports.
