Menace of Malnutrition

India has set a target of becoming a 5-trillion dollar economy by the end of 2030. However, on Thursday Prime Minister Narendra Modi has apparently brought the deadline forward to 2024. But then, what is most difficult is to tackle the menace of malnutrition, which has remained a major stumbling block in the overall human development report-card of this country. Nearly half of all deaths of children in our country below the age of 5 years are attributable to undernourishment. It is a fact that undernourishment puts children at a greater risk of dying from common infections, increases the frequency and severity of such infections, and delays recovery from those. The combination of undernutrition and infection in a child’s body can create a potentially lethal cycle of worsening illness and deteriorating nutritional status. Medical science and related research has proved that poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can also lead to stunted growth – less height in relation to age – which can lead to impaired cognitive ability and reduced school and work performance. Similarly, children having poor nutrition also suffer from wasting – very less body weight in comparison to height – and those suffering from severe wasting have very little chance of survival. Together the stunted and wasted children are considered to be underweight – which is clear indication of lack of proper nutritional intake and inadequate care after childbirth.

According to official estimates, the percentage of children suffering from stunting has come down from 46.5 per cent in the National Family Health Survey-3 conducted in 2005-06 to 36.4 per cent in NFHS-4 conducted in 2015-16. But then, there is little room for rejoicing or complacency because the percentage of children suffering from wasting has been increasing. It was 13.7 per cent in the NFHS-3 conducted in 2005-06, and has gone up to 17 per cent in NFHS-4 conducted in 2015-16. The percentage of underweight children however has come down from 42.5 per cent to 35.7 per cent in ten years. Further, more than half of India’s children are anaemic (58%), indicating an inadequate amount of haemoglobin in the blood. This is caused by a nutritional deficiency of iron and other essential minerals, and vitamins in the body.

The situation in Assam is also far from satisfactory. According to UNICEF, there is high prevalence of undernutrition among children, adolescent girls as well as mothers. Almost half of Assam’s under-5 children (47 per cent) are stunted, primarily due to poor infant and child feeding practices, and poor hygiene and sanitation behaviours. Moreover, 14 per cent of Assam’s children suffer from acute malnutrition, with four per cent of them experiencing Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). The prevalence of anaemia in this group is also high: among children aged six to 35 months it is 77 per cent, among adolescent girls 67 per cent and among women 72 per cent. The situation is particularly alarming in Dhubri, Goalpara, Darrang, Karimganj, Barpeta, Udalguri and Chirang. In Dhubri district for instance, as high as 47.4 per cent under-5 children suffer from stunting caused due to malnutrition.

Various reasons have been identified that have contributed to malnutrition in Assam. These include marriage of girls and becoming pregnant before attaining 18 years of age, lack of adequate healthcare during pregnancy, low institutional delivery, poor immunization coverage, low rate of breast-feeding within one hour of birth, low rate of exclusive breast-feeding till six months, and so on.

It is in the backdrop of the above that the present government redesigned National Nutrition Mission and declared it as POSHAN Abhiyan – PM’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment – with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating it in March 2018, and declaring it as a jan andolan or people’s movement. While all districts of the country are being covered in a phased manner, September 2019 is being observed as POSHAN Maah or Nutrition Month all over the country. Unlike in earlier times when nutrition was a subject handled by the Social Welfare departments in the states, massive corruption in this department has prompted the Centre to entrust the POSHAN Abhiyan to a number of departments and called it a convergence. What however seems to be still lacking is the involvement of elected representatives; one does not see the MPs, MLAs and panchayat members talking about POSHAN Abhiyan as they should have had. They are probably waiting for the Prime Minister to wake them up.

Also Read: Governor Jagdish Mukhi Stresses Solutions For Malnutrition-Free India