Malnutrition

Malnutrition means poor nutrition. Most commonly this is caused by not eating
enough (undernutrition) or not eating enough of the right food to give our body
the nutrients it needs.
A balanced diet should provide enough nutrients like calories, protein and
vitamins, to keep us healthy. Without this, we may not be getting all the
nutrients we need and this can lead to malnutrition.
Malnutrition can result in:
 unplanned weight loss
 muscle loss
 a low body mass index (BMI)
 vitamin and mineral deficiencies
This can leave us feeling tired, weak and affect our ability to recover from an
illness.
The Crisis of Malnutrition in India
India spends far less than necessary to address its high levels of malnutrition,
according to a new World Bank report, Wasting Away: The Crisis of
Malnutrition in India.

Despite substantial improvement in health and well-being since the country's

independence in 1947, malnutrition remains a silent emergency in India, where
more than half of all children under the age of four are malnourished, 30 percent
of new-borns are significantly underweight, and 60 percent of women are
anaemic. According to the report, malnutrition costs India at least $10 billion
annually in terms of lost productivity, illness, and death and is seriously
retarding improvements in human development and further reduction of
childhood mortality. Malnutrition rates in some parts of the country are highest
among children and women, due primarily to inadequate food intake, illness,
and such harmful child care practices as delayed complementary feeding.
Underlying these are household food insecurity, inadequate preventative and
curative health services, and insufficient knowledge of proper care.

Widespread malnutrition is a major barrier to further reduction of maternal

mortality rates. Malnourishment can also significantly lower cognitive
development and learning achievement during the preschool and school years,
and subsequently result in lower productivity. Nutritional anaemia is implicated
in low physical and mental performance.
A new report, Food and Security Analysis, India,2019, authored by the
government of India and United Nations World Food Programme, paints a
picture of hunger and malnutrition amongst children of large parts of India.
malnutrition in India persists because of age old patterns of social and economic
exclusion. Over 40% of children from OBCs, STs and SCs are stunted.
Child malnutrition is a chronic problem and a longstanding challenge for the
public administration of India. The first National Family Health Survey (NFHS)
in 1992-1993 found that India was one of the worst performing countries on
child health indicators. The, survey reported that more than half the children
under four were underweight and stunted. One in every six children was
excessively thin (wasted). All, these conditions could be attributed to the
prevalence of chronic malnutrition in children.
Despite decades of investment to tackle this malaise, India’s child malnutrition
rates are still one of the most alarming in the world. The Global Hunger Index
(2020) — which is calculated on the basis of total undernourishment of the
population, child stunting, wasting and child mortality — places India at the
94th spot among 107 countries. The bane of child and maternal malnutrition is
responsible for 15 per cent of India’s total disease burden. The fourth round of
NFHS, conducted in 2015-2016, found that the prevalence of underweight,
stunted and wasted children under five was at 35.7, 38.4 and 21.0 per cent.
However, according to the data from the fifth round of NFHS (2019-2021) from
the 22 states surveyed so far, only nine showed a decline in the number of
stunted children, 10 in wasted children and six in underweight children.
The percentage of stunted, wasted and underweight children increased or
remained unchanged in the remaining states. The crisis of child malnutrition in
India has often been attributed to historical antecedents such as poverty,
inequality and food shortage. However, countries with similar historical and
societal makeup and comparable per capita income have fared much better.
Countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan have
been ranked higher than India on the Global Hunger Index at 64th, 73th, 75th,
78th and 88th spots respectively.
Reasons for malnutrition:
Mother's health
Scientist say the initial thousand days of an individual’s lifespan from the day of
conception till he or she is crucial for physical and cognitive development
But more than half the women of child wearing the age are enemy and 33% are
undernourished according to NFHS 2006. A malnourished mother is more likely
to give birth to malnourished children.
Social inequality
Girl children are more likely to be malnourished than boys and low- caste
children then upper-caste children.
Sanitation
Most children in rural areas and urban slums still lac sanitation. This makes
them vulnerable to the kinds of chronic intestinal diseases that prevent bodies
from making good use of nutrients in food, and they become malnourished.
Lack of sanitation and clean drinking water are the reasons high level of
malnutrition process in India despite improvement in food availability
Lack of diversified food
The dismal health of Indian women and children is primary due to lack of food
security
Nearly one third of adults in the country have a body mass index below normal
just because they do not have enough food to eat.
Failure of government approaches
India already has two robust National programs addressing malnutrition in the
integrated child development service and the National health mission but these
do not yet reach enough people
The delivery system is also inadequate and plagued by in efficiency and
corruption. Some analysts estimate that 40% of the subsidized food never
reaches the intended recipients
Disease spread
Most children in India occur from treatable diseases like pneumonia diarrhoea
malaria and complications at birth. The child may eventually die of a disease,
but that disease becomes lethal because the child is malnourished and unable to
put up resistance to it.
Poverty
The staff of ICDS places part of the blame of malnutrition on parents being in
attentive to the needs of children. But crushing poverty forces most women to
leave their young children at home and work in the fields during the agriculture
season.
Regional disparities in the availability of food and varying food habits lead to
the differential status of under nutrition which is substantially higher in rural
done in urban areas. This demands a region-specific action plan with significant
investments in human resources with critical health investment at the local
levels.
Lack of Nutrition
Significant cause of malnutrition is also the deliberate failure of malnourished
people to choose nutritious food
An international study found the poor in developing countries had enough
money to increase their food spending by as much as 30% but this money was
spent on alcohol, tobacco and festivals instead.
Challenges to fight malnutrition
Lack of coordination between various ministries affect the programs
implementation
The scheme also suffers from underutilization of allocated funds
Till now state and union territory governments have only used 16% of the funds
allocated to them
Lack of real time data monitoring, sustainability and accountability also impact
then National nutrition mission (NNM)
Anganwadis key to the distribution of services to mothers and children. But
many states including Bihar and Orissa which have large vulnerable populations
are struggling to set up functioning anganwadis and recruit staff
The mission does not have differential approach to the issue of malnutrition
more focus is needed on the areas where malnutrition levels are
comparatively high
Consequences of malnutrition:
 This inter-generational cycle of undernutrition transmitted from mothers
to children greatly impacts on India’s present and future. Undernourished
children are much more likely to suffer from infection and die from
common childhood illnesses (diarrhoea, pneumonia, measles, malaria)
than well-nourished children.
 According to recent estimates, more than a third of all deaths in children
aged 5 years or younger is attributable to undernutrition.
 Undernutrition puts women at a greater risk of pregnancy-related
complications and death (obstructed labour and haemorrhage).
 Undernourished boys and girls do not perform as well in school as
compared to their well-nourished peers, and as adults they are less
productive and make lower wages.
 Widespread child undernutrition greatly impedes India’s socio-economic
development and potential to reduce poverty.