2. UNDERSTANDING MALNUTRITION
Malnutrition refers to the situation where
there is an unbalanced diet in which some
nutrients are in excess, lacking or wrong
proportion.
Malnutrition affects childrenโs chances of
survival, increases their susceptibility to
illness, reduces their ability to learn,
increases their chances of dropping out
early from school, and makes them less
productive in later life.
Much of this undernourishment happens
during pregnancy and in the first two years
of a childโs life.
Malnutrition can be categorized into:
oUnder-nutrition
oOver-nutrition
Deficiencies in nutrition inflict long-term
damage to both individuals and society.
More than one third of the world's
malnourished children live in India.
3. Some Facts
Malnourishment poses a major threat to
Indiaโs socio-economic growth
not only affects individual growth but
also impedes productivity
Ninety nine per cent of all under-five
deaths occur with the most common
causes of death being pneumonia,
diarrhoea and malaria. These are
illnesses to which children are
particularly vulnerable, especially when
they are malnourished, a condition that
weakens their immune systems.
These diseases are lethal because child
is unable to fight back.
Malnutrition rate among Indiaโs children
are almost 5 times more than in China,
and twice those in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nearly half of all Indiaโs children -
approx 60 million - are underweight,
about 45% are stunted (too short for their
age), 20% are wasted (too thin for their
height, indicating acute malnutrition),
75% are anemic, and 57% are Vitamin A
deficient.
Close to 1.3 million children die every
year in India because of malnutrition,
according to the World Health
Organization (WHO).
4. Causes
New mothers are adolescents. A
staggering 75% of them are anemic and
most on put on less weight during
pregnancy than they should - 5
kilograms on average compared to the
worldwide average of close to 10kgs.
Most of the woman's in India are
illiterate and have very less power in
their family hence not aware about such
problems.
It is studied that a womanโs experience
of abuse and acceptance of domestic
violence has a significant negative
impact on her nutritional status,
affecting her ability to produce a
healthy baby.
Malnutrition in children is not affected by
food intake alone; it is also influenced by
access to health services, quality of care for
the child and pregnant mother as well as good
hygiene practices. Girls are more at risk of
malnutrition than boys because of their lower
social status.
Inappropriate feeding and caring practices for
young children, especially during the first two
to three years of life are one of the major
causes of malnutrition. This is often
compounded by poor hygiene among dense
populations that leads to the frequent
occurrence of infections in young children,
depleting their young bodies of nutrients.
5. Causes
Over-nutrition also has severe
consequences. In India national obesity
rates in 2010 were 14% for women and
18% for men with some urban areas
having rates as high as 40%.Obesity
causes several non-communicable
diseases such as cardiovascular
diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic
respiratory diseases.
Maternal overweight and obesity result
in increased maternal morbidity and
infant mortality.
Malnutrition in children is an outcome of
insufficient food intake, impaired utilization
or depletion of nutrients due to repeated
infectious diseases and parasites and Low
Birth Weight (LBW).
While poverty and food insecurity contribute
to malnutrition in India, some important
causes, most of which are preventable,
include improper and unsafe infant feeding
and child care practices, gender disparity in
distribution of food and general neglect of the
girl child.
6. Repercussions
Malnutrition in early childhood has
serious, long-term consequences
because it impedes motor, sensory,
cognitive, social and emotional
development. Malnourished children
are less likely to perform well in school
and more likely to grow into
malnourished adults, at greater risk of
disease and early death.
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies also
affect childrenโs survival and
development.
Vitamin A deficiency, which causes
blindness and increases morbidity and
mortality among pre-schoolers, also
remains a public-health problem.
India loses four per cent of its Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) due to malnutrition
that stems from a host of factors โ poverty,
illiteracy, lack of awareness, poor access to
health care, unsafe drinking water and poor
sanitation.
Child malnutrition is responsible for 22 per
cent of the countryโs disease burden and half
of the 1.3 million child deaths annually, but it
also costs India at least $ 10 billion per year
in terms of lost productivity, illness and death.
7. Steps Taken and their review
Though so many steps have already
been taken but still no remarkable
outcome have come because its ver
easy to form reforms but it must be
implemented well and that is what not
happening.
Daily we hear some news about poor
mid day meals and even there the food
lacks nutrient.
The focus that this cause needed is still
not given to it and that is the reason it is
not decrementing rather get worse and
worse
oMidday meal scheme in Indian schools
Serving freshly cooked meals to over 1.3 million
hungry school children in government and
government-aided schools in India.
oIntegrated child development scheme
ICDS has been instrumental in improving the health
of mothers and children under age 6 by providing
health and nutrition education, health services,
supplementary food, and pre-school education.
oNational Children's Fund
This Fund Provides support to the voluntary
organizations that help the welfare of kids.
oNational Plan of Action for Children
8. Some Solutions
โข Commitment to reduce malnutrition and low birth weight through national and
state level policies
โข Use of community-based approach to address malnutrition and child
development
โข Provision of Vitamin A and iron supplementation to address damage caused by
vitamin and mineral deficiencies
โข India's food security bill: a bold step to end malnutrition - To legislate food
as a right for every citizen in a country is a bold step for our nation, and with
810 million people expected to benefit from the biggest program in the world to
fight hunger, we hope that no child will ever go to bed hungry again.
9. Some Solutions
โข Steps should be taken to make people residing in villages aware about the
problem through seminars and discussions in regional languages and providing
them efficient resources to fight with the problem.
โข Instead of making plans action is required and that to a very good team effort
collecting the statistics and working in a planned manner village by village and
not just making plans Nation wise because if work will be done in small areas
then it will be effective.
โข Providing every children of India food security and not just simple food but
nutritional food and working for the country and not just living for ourselves.
10. References
1. HUNGaMA, New Delhi, โFighting Hunger and Malnutrition โ Survey Report 2011โ online;
2. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), โ2012 Global Hunger Index โ The
Chalenge Of Hunger, Ensuring Sustainable Food Security under Land, Water, and Energy
Stressesโ (released October 2012);
3. Why malnutrition in shining India persists* Peter Svedberg
4. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/05/13/helping-india-combat-persistently-
high-rates-of-malnutrition
5. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/malnutrition-causes-45-per-cent-of-deaths-of-
underfive-children-report/article4788613.ece
6. http://www.unicef.org/india/children_2356.htm
