The Global Nutrition Report 2020 recently highlighted that India is on track to miss global nutrition targets by 2025, ranking the country amongst 88 others in a similar situation. Furthermore, the report outlined the stark domestic inequalities in malnutrition within India, making it one of the nations with the highest internal disparities.
Global Nutrition Targets for 2025
In 2012, the World Health Assembly (WHO’s decision-making body) identified six nutrition targets. The aims include reduction of stunting by 40% in children under 5, lowering the prevalence of anaemia by 50% among women aged 19-49, ensuring a 30% reduction in low-birth weight, preventing any increase in childhood overweight, increasing the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months to at least 50%, and reducing and maintaining childhood wasting to less than 5%.
India’s Nutritional Status
India lags behind on all four nutritional indicators where data is available: stunting among under-5 children, anaemia among women of reproductive age, childhood overweight, and exclusive breastfeeding.
Child Stunting and Wasting
Data reveals that 37.9% of Indian children under 5 years are stunted and 20.8% are wasted, much higher than the Asian average of 22.7% and 9.4% respectively. Steep disparities exist within the country itself, with India being one of the three worst countries, along with Nigeria and Indonesia, for within-country differences in stunting.
Obesity Issues
The rate of overweight and obesity continues to rise, affecting almost a fifth of the adults, with 21.6% of women and 17.8% of men overweight. Interestingly, there are nearly double as many obese adult females than there are males.
Prevalence of Anaemia
Half of the women of reproductive age in India are anaemic.
Underweight Children
The rates of underweight children have shown a decrease from 2000 to 2016, but the numbers are still much higher than the Asian average.
The Link Between Malnutrition and Inequity
The report underscores the link between malnutrition and different forms of inequity, such as disparities based on geographical location, age, gender, ethnicity, education, and wealth. These inequalities can lead to a vicious cycle of increased inequity.
Understanding Malnutrition
Malnutrition refers to deficiencies or imbalances in an individual’s intake of energy and nutrients. It includes conditions such as stunting, wasting, underweight, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, obesity, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
Global Nutrition Report’s Role
The Global Nutrition Report monitors worldwide nutrition and efforts to improve it. Conceived after the first Nutrition for Growth Initiative Summit in 2013, it provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of global nutrition, highlighting areas of concern and potential interventions.
