Nutritional Crisis in India: Key Findings, Status, Government Initiatives, and Way Forward

Context

This editorial is based on the news “Nutritional crisis: India has most ‘zero-food’ children at 6.7 million; third highest prevalance among 92 LMICs” which was published in the DownToEarth. Recently, India has ranked poor in a study calculating the prevalence of Zero Food Children across 92 low and middle income countries (LMIC).

Relevancy for Prelims: Nutritional Security In India, Food Security, Nutrition Security, World Food India 2023, State Of Food And Agriculture Report 2023, Farm And Food Policy Shift, and Malnutrition In India.

Relevancy for Mains:Nutritional Crisis in India: Key Findings, Status, Government Initiatives, and Way Forward.

Zero-Protein: More than 80% of children in the age group of 6-23 months had not consumed any protein-rich foods for an entire day (“zero-protein”).
Zero-Milk: Six out of 10 children in the age group of 6-23 months do not consume milk or dairy of any form every day (“zero-milk”).

Global Malnutrition Ranking: The Global Hunger Index (2023) ranks India at 111 out of 125 countries.
- India’s child wasting rate (low weight for height), at 19.3%, is worse than the levels recorded in 2014 (15.1%) and even 2000 (17.15%). It is the highest for any country in the world.
Stunted Children: According to the fifth round of NFHS (2019-2021) data from 22 states, only nine showed a decline in the number of stunted children, 10 in wasted children, and six in underweight children.
- 35% of children are Stunted and 57% of women and 25% of men are anaemic.

The research was published in the journal JAMA Network and looked at 276,379 babies aged six to 23 months in 92 LMICs.

Data Collection Methods: data from demographic and health surveys (DHS) and multiple indicator cluster (MICS) surveys.
Period: May 20, 2010, to January 27, 2022.
India Specific Data: National Family Health Survey’s 2019-2021 data was used.

Cropping Pattern and Agriculture Practices: The cultivation of rice and wheat often overshadows the production millets and pulses, contributing to nutritional insecurity.
Insufficient Funding: India’s public health expenditure is still only about 1.3% of its GDP.
Regional Disparities: 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 subclinical condition called “environmental enteropathy” in children, which causes nutritional malabsorption.
Social Factors: Low status of women in Indian society, Poor childcare practices, such as not immediately starting breastfeeding after birth and child marriages.
Politics of Distribution: 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.

Direct Targeted Interventions:
- Government implements several schemes and programs like Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS) as direct targeted interventions.
National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN ABHIYAAN):
- National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN ABHIYAAN) aims to prevent and reduce prevalence of stunting, underweight and anaemia among children (0-6 years) and reduction in prevalence of low birth weight in the country by involving panchayati raj institutions/village organisations.
Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Strategy:
- Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) was launched in 2018 with the objective of reducing anaemia prevalence among children, adolescents and women in the reproductive age group.
Poshan Vatikas:

- A programme to support development of Poshan Vatikas at Anganwadi centres to meet dietary diversity gap leveraging traditional knowledge in nutritional practices has also been taken up.

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: Example: The computerization of PDS in Chhattisgarh exemplifies how technology can curb corruption and improve service delivery.
Nutrition Education and Awareness: about the importance of a balanced diet, hygiene practices, and breastfeeding, etc.
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 (stunting, wasting, and underweight) rate was effectively reduced from 50 percent to 25 percent.

Also Read: An Uttar Pradesh Model To Tackle Malnutrition

Prelims PYQ (2017):

Which of the following are the objectives of ‘National Nutrition Mission’?

1. To create awareness relating to malnutrition among pregnant women and lactating mothers.

2. To reduce the incidence of anaemia among young children, adolescent girls and women.

3. To promote the consumption of millets, coarse cereals and unpolished rice.

4. To promote the consumption of poultry eggs. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1, 2 and 3 only

(d) 3 and 4 only

Ans: (a)

Mains Question: Examine the underlying causes of malnutrition in India and propose comprehensive strategies to address this challenge effectively. (10 marks, 150 words). (15 Marks, 250 Words)

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