The Prime Minister, at the new Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave, urged scientists to shift India’s focus from food security to nutrition security and boost innovation in health, agriculture, and clean energy.

About Food Security & Nutrition Security

• Food Security: The 1996 World Food Summit defines food security as a state where all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food for an active, healthy life.
  • It rests on four key dimensions:
    • Availability: Adequate food supply through production, stocks, and trade.
    • Access: Economic and physical ability to obtain food.
    • Utilization: Proper use of food through nutrition, care, and dietary diversity.
    • Stability: Consistent access to food over time, unaffected by shocks or crises.
• Nutrition Security: It is defined as the availability, access, and utilization of nutritious food to meet dietary needs, highlighting the biological dimension of food and nutrition security rather than solely the physical aspects of food availability.

Malnutrition: Definition & Types 

• Malnutrition: Refers to deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in nutrient intake or utilization.

• Double Burden: Includes both undernutrition and overweight/obesity, along with diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
• Diet-related Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs): It encompasses cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, often associated with high blood pressure, primarily stemming from unhealthy diets and inadequate nutrition.
• Undernutrition manifests in four broad forms: Wasting, Stunting, Underweight, and Micronutrient deficiencies.

India’s Nutrition Situation in 2024

• Undernourishment 
  • Absolute Decline: The undernourished population dropped from 243 million (2006) to 172 million (2024) i.e., about 12% of India’s population was undernourished in 2024.
  • Global & Regional Rankings:
    • 48th globally out of 204 countries.
    • In Asia: 7th highest proportion of undernourished people, behind countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan.
• Child Nutrition Indicators
  • Wasting (Low weight-for-height): 18.7% of Indian children under five suffered from wasting in 2024 — the highest rate globally, affecting over 21 million children.
  • Stunting (Low height-for-age): 37.4 million Indian children under five were stunted, indicating chronic undernutrition.
  • Overweight Children: The number rose from 2.7 million in 2012 to 4.2 million in 2024, highlighting a rising dual burden.

• Women’s Health Indicators
• • Anaemia Prevalence (Women 15–49): 53.7% of Indian women were anaemic in 2023 which is highest in Asia and fourth-highest globally.
  • Absolute Numbers: Anaemic women increased from 164 million (2012) to 203 million (2023).
  • Global Ranking: India trails only Gabon, Mali, and Mauritania in anemia prevalence among women.
• Nutrition Inequality and Systemic Challenges
• • Persistent Causes: High rates of undernutrition are linked to poverty, inequality, and limited access to nutritious food, healthcare, and education — especially among marginalised groups.
  • National Data Indicators: NFHS-5 (2019–21) showed stunting at 35.5% and wasting at 19.3% — consistent with SOFI findings.
• Affordability of Healthy Diets:
• • In 2024, 42.9% of Indians could not afford a healthy diet.
  • The cost of a healthy diet increased from $2.77 (PPP) in 2017 to $4.07 in 2024.
  • Key Drivers: High food prices, poverty, inequality, and limited access to nutritious food and health services.
• Double Burden of Malnutrition
• • Rising Obesity: The obese adult population doubled from 33.6 million (2012) to 71.4 million (2024).
  • Coexistence of Hunger and Obesity: Undernutrition and overnutrition both remain serious concerns, driven by economic disparities and changing diets..

Challenges Associated With Nutritional Security in India

• Cropping Pattern and Agriculture Practices: For instance, the cultivation of rice and wheat often overshadows the production of nutrient-rich crops like millets and pulses, contributing to nutritional insecurity
  • For Example, At the end of fiscal year 2022, India had over 46 million hectares of land area for cultivation of rice, whereas area under cultivation of millets in 2021-22 is 15.48 million hectares
• Overemphasis on Calorie Security: India’s policies have traditionally focused on food quantity (grains) rather than nutritional quality, leading to diets rich in cereals but poor in protein, vitamins, and minerals.
• Insufficient Funding: Many nutrition programs suffer from budget constraints, affecting their scale and effectiveness. India’s public health expenditure is still only about 1.3% of its GDP.
• Regional Disparities: For example, states like Punjab and Haryana have better access to nutritious food due to better facilities developed during the Green Revolution, while states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh face higher rates of malnutrition due to limited resources.
• Environmental Enteropathy: Poor hygiene and sanitation lead to a sub-clinical condition called “environmental enteropathy” in children, which causes nutritional malabsorption and is the source of a variety of problems, including diarrhoea, retarded growth and stunting.
  • For Example: prevalence of waterborne diseases and malnutrition as seen in several states, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• Social Factors: Low status of women in Indian society, Poor childcare practices, such as not immediately starting breastfeeding after birth and child marriages. 
  • Estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India, which makes it home to the largest number of child brides in the world. 
  • Infants born to child brides in India (married before the age of 18) have a higher risk of malnutrition
• Politics of Distribution: According to Amartya Sen, hunger usually arises from food distribution problems, or from governmental policies in the developing world, and not from the insufficiency of food production. Corruption, leakages, exclusion-inclusion error etc. makes PDS inefficient.
• Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Frequent droughts, floods, and other climate-related events lead to food shortages. 
  • For Example: States like Maharashtra and Kerala have experienced adverse effects of climate change, affecting crop yields.
• Lack of Diversity under Public Distribution System (PDS): The PDS lacks more nutritious foods such as coarse grains, pulses, etc.
  • India’s protein consumption falls far below the recommended daily intake of 48 grams per day suggested by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 
  • The recommended dietary allowance of protein for an average Indian adult is 0.8 to 1 gm per kg body weight.
• Cultural Practice: For example, a study in rural Rajasthan found that women eat last and consume lower quantities of nutrient-rich foods compared to other family members, resulting in compromised nutritional security.
• Poor Awareness and Education: Lack of awareness about balanced diets, child feeding practices, and nutritional hygiene perpetuates undernutrition despite food availability.
• Food Wastage: According to the UNEP’s (United Nations Environment Programme) food wastage index report, 68.7 million tonnes of food is wasted annually in Indian homes (About 55 kgs per person).
• • It stands 2nd worldwide in terms of household wastage of food only followed by China.
  • Annually, nearly 21 million metric tonnes of wheat rots in India. This figure is equal to Australia’s total annual production.

Key Government Schemes for Food & Nutritional Security

Way Forward

• Promote Biofortified and Climate-Resilient Crops: Encourage research and development of biofortified varieties rich in iron, zinc, and vitamins; scale up adoption via farmer incentives and seed programs.
• Low-Cost Fertilizer and Soil Health Innovation: Develop affordable, sustainable fertilizers to enhance soil micronutrient content and crop nutrition density.

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• Genomic Biodiversity Mapping for Personalized Nutrition: Advance genomic research to understand India’s diverse nutritional needs and design personalized interventions aligning with PM Modi’s Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) vision.

• Universal Maternity entitlements and child care services: Enabling exclusive breastfeeding, appropriate infant and young child feeding as well as towards recognising women’s unpaid work burdens.
• Strengthening Public Systems: Enhancing the efficiency of the Public Distribution System, ICDS, and healthcare services is paramount. 
  • For Example: The computerization of PDS in Chhattisgarh exemplifies how technology can curb corruption and improve service delivery.
• Integrated Health and Nutrition Programs: Converge PM POSHAN, ICDS, and rice fortification programs with local health initiatives for a comprehensive, community-based nutrition model.
• Increased Budgetary allocations: Adequate budgetary allocation can help to tackle the issue of nutritional security. Research suggests that $1 spent on nutritional interventions in India could generate $34.1 to $38.6 in public economic returns, three times more than the global average. 
• Nutrition Education and Awareness: Public awareness campaigns can educate people about the importance of a balanced diet, hygiene practices, and breastfeeding etc.  
• • Example: My plate for the day to prevent hidden hunger is a nutrition awareness poster released by National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. 
  • Other awareness campaigns include Eat Right Campaign, Right To Food, etc
• Strengthen Inter-Departmental Convergence: In this regard, approach undertaken by Bangladesh can be replicated in India. 
  • For Example: The National Plan of Action for Nutrition of Bangladesh is based on a multi-sectoral convergence strategy involving health, education, fisheries and livestock, environment, social protection, disaster management etc to combat child malnutrition.
• Learn from International Experience: Thailand has been one of the most outstanding success stories of reducing child malnutrition in the period 1980-1988 during which child malnutrition (underweight) rate was effectively reduced from 50 percent to 25 percent.
  •  This was achieved through a mix of interventions including intensive growth monitoring and nutrition education, strong supplementary feeding provision, high rates of coverage ensured, Iron and Vitamin supplementation and salt iodization along with primary health care.

Conclusion

India must transition from ensuring food sufficiency to achieving nutrition adequacy, aligning with PM Modi’s call for a science-driven shift toward biofortified crops, innovation, and integrated nutrition-focused policies to build a healthier, self-reliant nation.

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