Tag: GS 2 || Governance & Social Justice || Human Development || Health

Why In News?

A report published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health gives comprehensive estimates of disease burden due to child and maternal malnutrition and the trends of its indicators in every state of India from 1990 to 2017.

Key findings

The death rate attributable to malnutrition in under-5 children in India has dropped by two-thirds from 1990 to 2017.

attributable to malnutrition in in India by Malnutrition is, however, still the underlying risk factor for 68% of the deaths in under-five children in India.

for in India. The Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) rate attributable to malnutrition in children varies 7-fold among the states — a gap between a high of 74,782 in Uttar Pradesh and a low of 11,002 in Kerala.

attributable to malnutrition in children varies Other states with a high burden are Bihar, Assam and Rajasthan, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Nagaland and Tripura.

U5 mortality

The proportion of under-5 deaths attributable to malnutrition, which is 68.2% across India , ranges between a high of 72.7% in Bihar and a low of 50.8% in Kerala.

, ranges between a high Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh are states with a high such proportion, while Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Goa have the lowest proportions of such deaths.

are states with a high such proportion, while have the lowest proportions of such deaths. Among the malnutrition indicators, low birth weight is the largest contributor to child deaths in India, followed by child growth failure which includes stunting, underweight, and wasting.

Food and Nutrition Security Analysis

The Food and Nutrition Security Analysis, India, 2019, a report by the MoSPI and The World Food Programme lists Maharashtra as one of the six States with high levels of stunting and underweight.

and of stunting and underweight. The State also has a prevalence of stunting and wasting.

Here’s a look at the highlights of the report and overall malnutrition in Maharashtra.

Malnutrition

Malnutrition, in all its forms, includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight) inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight, obesity, and resulting diet-related non-communicable diseases.

non-communicable diseases. Malnutrition is a complex and multi-dimensional issue.

Double Burden of Malnutrition:

For several decades India was dealing with only one form of malnutrition– undernutrition. In the last decade, the double burden which includes both over- and undernutrition, is becoming more prominent and poses a new challenge for India.

From 2005 to 2016, prevalence of low (< 18.5 kG/M2) body mass index (BMI) in Indian women decreased from 36% to 23% and from 34% to 20% among Indian men . During the same period, the prevalence of overweight/obesity (BMI > 30 kG/M2) increased from 13% to 21% among women and from 9% to 19% in men.

prevalence in Indian women decreased . During the same period, the prevalence of overweight/obesity and Children born to women with low BMI are more likely to be stunted, wasted, and underweight compared to children born to women with normal or high BMI.

National Nutrition Mission

The government launched National Nutrition Mission (renamed as Poshan Abhiyaan) in March 2018.

It aims to reduce undernutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and low birth weight by 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.

It also aims to reduce stunting (a measure of malnutrition that is defined as the height that is significantly below the norm for age) by 2% a year, bringing down the proportion of stunted children in the population to 25% by 2022.

The policy aims to map various schemes that address malnutrition and set up a robust convergence mechanism, and an information and communications technology-based real-time monitoring system, besides incentivising states and Union territories to meet the targets.

Way Forward

Farmers should be encouraged and incentivised for agricultural diversification.

Innovative and low-cost farming technologies , increase in the irrigation coverage and enhancing knowledge of farmers in areas such as appropriate use of land and water should be encouraged to improve the sustainability of food productivity.

, increase in the irrigation coverage and enhancing knowledge of farmers in areas such as appropriate use of land and water should be encouraged to The government should improve policy support for improving agricultural produce of traditional crops in the country.

Storage capacity should be improved to prevent post-harvest losses.

Child feeding practices should be improved in the country, especially at the critical ages when solid foods are introduced to the diet.

Fortification, diversification and supplementation may be used as simultaneous strategies to address micro and macronutrient deficiencies.

Mains Question

Discuss the reasons and challenges associated with the high level of malnutrition in India?

Additional Info

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/the-burden-of-malnutrition-in-under-5-children-state-by-state-6007859/