Stunted, wasted: on Global Nutrition Report 2018
The national framework to improve nutrition for children must be upgraded on priority
The health, longevity and well-being of Indians has improved
since Independence, and the high levels of economic growth over the past
two-and-half-decades have made more funds available to spend on the social
sector. Yet, the reality is that a third of the world’s stunted children under five — an
estimated 46.6 million who have low height for age — live in India. A quarter
of the children display wasting (that is, low weight for height) as
well. As the Global Nutrition Report 2018 points out, this finding masks
the wide variation in stunting levels in different parts of the
country. District-level data show high and very high levels of stunting mainly
in central and northern India (more than 30% and 40%, respectively), but less
than 20% in almost the entire south. This shows the important role played by
political commitment, administrative efficiency, literacy and women’s empowerment in
ensuring children’s health. Food and freedom go together, and
the availability of one strongly influences access to the other; social
institutions can work to improve nutrition and children’s welfare in free
societies, and the absence of hunger enables people to develop their
capabilities. Governments should acknowledge the linkages and commit themselves
to improved nutritional policies. The national framework to improve nutrition
already exists. The Anganwadi Services scheme, which incorporates the
Integrated Child Development Services, caters to children up to age six, and to
pregnant and lactating
women. If it has not worked well in several States, it must be
subjected to a rigorous review and targeted
interventions for supplementary nutrition made.
Among the factors affecting the quantity and quality of nutrition are
maternal education, age at marriage, antenatal care, children’s diet and household
size. Now that mapping
of malnutrition
at the district level is available, as in the Global Nutrition Report, it is incumbent on
State governments to address these determining factors. A second
issue is that of the quality of nutrition in packaged foods available to
children. Going by the report, only 21% of these foods in India were rated as
being healthy, based on overall energy, salt, sugar and saturated fat on the
negative side, and vegetable, fruit, protein, fibre and calcium as positive
factors. The fact that the global average of processed foods scored only 31%
and a peak of 37% in New Zealand indicates that whole foods
and cooked meals emerge superior. India should invest more of its economic
prosperity in its welfare system, without binding itself in restrictive budgetary
formulations. The Economic Survey 2017-18 put social services spending at 6.6%
of GDP, an insignificant rise after a marginal decline from the 6% band during
the previous year to 5.8%. The latest report on stunting and wasting should
convince the Centre that it needs to understand the problem better and work
with the States to give India’s children a healthy future.Courtesy: The Hindu
01. Stunted (adjective) – relating to children who are too short for their age.
02. Framework (noun) – structure, scheme/system, organisation.
03. Longevity (noun) – long life.
04. Well-being (noun) – welfare, good health, comfort/happiness.
05. Stunting (noun) – low height for age. Stunted children typically have short heights and low body masses for their age group.
06. Wasting (noun) – low weight for height. Wasted children who are thin for their height.
07. Masks (verb) – hide, conceal, cover.
08. Literacy (noun) – the ability to read and write; knowledge.
09. Empowerment (noun) – accreditation, authorization, validation.
10. Influences (verb) – affect, prejudice, sway.
11. Caters to (verb) – fulfil, satisfy; serve.
12. Lactating (verb) – breastfeed.
13. Rigorous (adjective) – thorough/careful, strict, stringent.
14. Antenatal care (adjective) – a period of pregnancy time.
15. Household (noun) – family, house.
16. Mapping (verb) – trace out, delineate, survey.
17. Malnutrition (noun) – undernourishment, undernutrition, poor/unhealthy/inadequate diet.
18. Incumbent on (adjective) – mandatory, necessary, compulsory.
19. Address (verb) – attend to, tackle, deal with,.
20. Economic prosperity (noun) – an economic state of growth with increasing profits.
21. Binding (verb) – commit oneself, undertake, pledge/swear/promise.
22. Budgetary (adjective) – relating to an estimate of income & spending.
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