Nutrition rank gives food for thought

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Indian Food Cos Far Short Of Providing Nutritional Qualities To Fight Malnutrition

The largest food and beverage manufacturers in the country need to pull up their socks when it comes to offering nutritious products to consumers.Research by the Netherlands-based The Access to Nutrition Foundation (ATNF) has found that food and beverage companies in India are falling far short of what they need to do to help fight malnutrition.
For instance, despite having the strongest nutrition and under nutrition-related commitments and policies, Nestle India, maker of Maggi noodles, scored the second lowest for nutrition qualities of its products among all the companies assessed under the India Access to Nutrition Spotlight Index. On the other hand, Mother Dairy scored the highest. “India faces the serious and escalating double burden of malnutrition, with a large undernourished population, as well as growing numbers of overweight and obese people who are developing chronic diseases,“ said Inge Kauer, executive director of ATNF. “Food and Beverage (F&B) manufacturers in India have the potential, and the responsibility, to be part of the solution to this double burden of malnutrition.“ Factor this: India is home to the largest number of stunted children in the world -48 million under the age of 5 -while at the same time, childhood obesity is reaching alarming proportions.The obesity prevalence rate reached 22% in children and adolescents aged between 519 years over the last five years, the report said.
Under the index, companies have been scored out of a maximum of ten in two ways -corporate profile and prod uct profile. While the former assesses companies' nutrition and undernutrition-related commitments and policies, practices and disclosure in seven areas of their business, the latter assesses the nutritional quality of the products of all companies included in the India Index.
The leading companies on the corporate profile -Nestle India and Hindustan Unilever -with scores of 7.1 and 6.7 respectively -have done more than the other seven companies assessed to integrate nutrition into their business models.
In the product profile segment, Mother Dairy , Hindustan Unilever and Amul, on the other hand, sell the largest proportion of healthy products among the Index companies. Mother Dairy scored 5.6 out of 10, Hindustan Unilever scored 4.6 and Amul scored 4.4.

Source: Times of India, 15-12-2016

Education is key to reducing child and maternal mortality rates

Last week, The Lancet released the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study. On the global front, there is good news: Between 1990 and 2015, deaths of children under five have gone down by half. But for India, the news was sombre: India has had the highest number of such deaths at 1.3 million in 2015. In first-ever estimates of the number of stillbirths, the study counted 2.1 million such instances in 2015. The number of stillbirths in India was estimated at 0.61 million. Of 195 countries studied, 122 countries have met the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to reduce the number of women dying from pregnancy-related causes to less than 70 for every 100,000 live births by 2030.

The study also indicated why India is still struggling to tackle such deaths, and the reason is not new: Poor last-mile delivery of health programmes such as the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) conditional cash transfer programme. While the JSY has been successful at increasing reproductive health-care services, it has not been as effective at reaching poor rural women, the socio-demographic group that is already at highest risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, the study said. Last year, a Hindustan Times report said that many hospitals even at the district level failed to meet the basic requirement of the programme such as free transport, food, medicines, check-ups and other facilities for pregnant women and even starting awareness programmes for the population they service.

While investing in health services to improve its record, India must not forget the important link that exists between meeting the challenge of maternal/child health and education. According to the United Nations, improving access to education is an essential building-block for increasing the number of trained health workers, particularly at the community level, and it also helps build the kind of behaviours and habits that have a positive impact on an individual’s health. Children who complete basic education eventually become parents who are more capable of providing quality care for their own children and who make better use of health and other social services available to them. Evidence indicates that when girls with a basic education reach adulthood, they are more likely than those without an education to manage the size of their families according to their capacities, and are more likely to provide better care for their children and send them to school.

Source: Hindustan Times, 9-10-2016

India struggling to cut malnutrition rates: reports

Global Nutrition Report says nation on course to meet only 2 of 8 targets.

Two reports released on Thursday, one at the global level and the other India-specific, say the country is on track to meet only two (under-five overweight and exclusive breastfeeding rates) of the eight global targets for reducing malnutrition by 2030.

The latest data show that 39 per cent of children under five in India are short for their age (stunted). The two States that had the worst stunting rates in 2005-06 — Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — have made the least progress over the 2005-2014 period, noted the Global Nutrition Report, the first of its kind to be released. The global rate is 24 per cent.

The India Health Report (IHR), 2015, offers a critical analysis of nutrition at the national and State levels. The IHR compared nutrition levels among children in 28 States and Delhi.

Ramanan Laxminarayan, co-author of the IHR, said: “We focussed on the topic of child stunting and malnutrition, given its magnitude and persistence in our country. Even with recent impressive improvements, India’s stunting problem represents the largest loss of human potential in any country in human history. If the population of stunted children in India were a single country, it would be the ninth largest country in the world. Even more worrisome, the problem of under-nutrition in India now coexists with the problem of over-nutrition and associated non-communicable diseases for a different segment of the population.”

Purnima Menon, co-author and senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, said: “The scope of action needs to be broad, but given the tremendous variability in implementation across States on delivery of indicators of nutrition and health programmes, water and sanitation coverage, food security and anti-poverty programmes, there is a clear need to invest in closing delivery gaps. Our report also highlights the critical relationships between indicators of women’s status and nutrition, and this is an absolutely urgent area for action.”

Malnutrition reduction

The GNR notes an increase in the number of countries on track to meet global nutrition targets, and encourages countries to establish specific and time-bound targets for malnutrition reduction that are consistent with the new Sustainable Development Goals. National targets should help accelerate progress and promote accountability.

While the GNR points to India’s improved performance in reducing its high burden of malnutrition, both reports conclude that this improvement should be much more rapid.

Lawrence Haddad, the co-chair of the GNR and a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, said: “India’s accelerated rate of reduction in under 5 malnutrition is not only good for Indian families and the Indian economy, but it is also good for the world. In fact, India has the opportunity to do for malnutrition reduction in the SDG era what China did for poverty reduction in the MDG era.”

Keywords: India malnutrition

Source: The Hindu, 11-12-2015

Malnutrition down, but not enough

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Child malnutrition in India has declined but continues to be among the highest in the world. Between 2006 and 2014, stunting levels in children under five declined from 48% to 39% as compared to global level of 24%, the India Nutrition Report says.Being stunted means that the affected children are not fulfilling their potential either in childhood or as adults and their brain and immune systems are compromised, often for their entire life, the reports says. However, there has been an increase in the decline rate of stunting at the national level. “Though India's national rate of stunting decline has increased from 1.7% in 200506, to now 2.6%, it is not fast enough,“ said Lawrence Habbad, senior researcher from International Food Policy Research Institute. A global report assessing India's performance vis-à-vis 193 countries concluded that India was on track to meet only two of the eight global targets on nutrition though it had significantly improved its performance in the past 10 years.
The India Nutrition report and the Global Nutrition Report was released by Union ministers J P Nadda and Maneka Gandhi on Thursday .
Nadda urged for suggestions to accelerate action at state level and strengthening and accountability for impact of nutrition programmes.
In order to strengthen the ICDS programme, women and child development ministry has been undertaking capacity building measures for Anganwadi workers equipping them with tablet devices and giving them promotional abilities, Gandhi said.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

Source: Times of India, 11-12-15

New nutrition report underscores the importance of leadership in addressing stunting in India

Bill Gates and Ratan Tata





W hen people around the world think of India they imagine bustling cities, lively markets, buzzing technology centres, and a young and vibrant workforce.Human capital is one of India's greatest assets. Yet, the world's fastest growing econo my hasn't touched millions o Indian citizens at the bottom of the economic pyramid ­ in parti cular, the 44 million children un der the age of five who are stun ted because they aren't getting enough of the right nutrition.
Nutrition is key to unlocking every child's potential. Well nourished children are better equipped to fend off diseases They do better in school. And they grow up to become more productive members of society .
A major new study , the Glo bal Nutrition Report, releasing today in Delhi, shows that India has made progress towards ensuring that every child can achieve their potential. Between 2006 and 2014, stunting among children under the age of five dropped from 48% to 39% ­ almost double the rate of decli ne compared to the previous seven-year period. Nearly al Indian states achieved declines proving that progress is possible in every part of the country.
But the fact remains that nearly four of every 10 young children growing up in India today are not getting enough of the right kinds of nutrition to help their body and mind grow to their full potential. And in states such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, the report found that declines have been much slower than the nationa average, indicating the issue is particularly entrenched.
These 44 million children are not just a statistic in a report. They are India's future and every single one of them de serves a chance to live a healthy and productive life.
Improving nutrition in India is key to India's continued economic prosperity . It's also the right thing to do from the standpoint of equity . Based on our organisations' work on nut rition in India, we believe there are three components to addres sing the problem.
First, India needs better in formation to design effective nutrition interventions and track progress. For too long, po licy makers have had to rely on outdated and incomplete statis tics to make policy decisions in India. Nutrition data has to be collected more frequently and consistently across regions to ensure that children are getting the nutrition they need.
The release of Unicef 's Ra pid Survey on Children last year marked a positive step forward in providing relevant data ­ fil ling a key information gap that had existed for nearly a decade.Government endorsement of key nutrition indicators and collection of relevant data every two or three years by each state is an important and necessary step to monitor progress.
Collecting better data is only part of the solution, however.Using that information to drive more effective nutrition interventions is critical.
Cost-effective solutions already are at our fingertips ­ better nutrition and healthcare in the 1,000 days between a mother's pregnancy and her child's second birthday, ensuring that women and girls get the nutrition they need, food fortification to address micronutrient deficiencies, and community programmes that address the needs of children with severe acute malnutrition. And states that have made good progress on nutrition can share best practices with high-burden states and strengthen the government's thinking and action on nutrition.
Finally ­ and most importantly ­ political leadership is essential. India has shown the political will to prioritise programmes that can eliminate malnutrition, but a shared sense of responsibility across all levels of government and sectors of society is required to end malnutrition. In particular, the government's proposed National Nutrition Mission will play a key role in strengthening work across different ministries and departments to deliver against the national nutrition targets.
India has the know-how and financial capacity to ensure that every child not only survives, but thrives. That has to start in a child's early years with enough of the right kinds of nutrition.We believe the Indian people share our commitment to this, and we are optimistic that by working together it is well within reach for India to tackle this very solvable challenge.
Bill Gates is co-chair and trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ratan Tata is chair of the board of the Tata Trusts

Nutrition, effective cash transfers: How to ensure social protection

Small and marginal farmers comprise 85% of the land holdings in India. Social protection is a survival tool for the rural poor, who have no easy access to wage labour. India recognised the need for social protection early on and introduced a slew of social protection programmes like the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) provides 100 days of assured labour wages to every rural poor household. The minimum support price serves as a social protection instrument for farmers. But are these schemes reaching their target audience?

That’s where the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) is currently assisting the government on plugging leaks in the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). “Biometric identification of beneficiaries in Kerala and Odisha has already eliminated families who should not fall under the programme. This alone could yield savings running into millions of dollars,” says Hameed Nuru, the WFP’s country director. Under the mid-day meal scheme, the WFP is also assisting Odisha in overcoming the nutrition deficit through iron fortification of rice.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which is working among the rural poor with the Madhya Pradesh government, finds that addressing hunger nutrition is often overlooked. It feels that communities should be made aware of the nutritive value of food available in their natural habitat. “Promoting nutrition-sensitive agriculture through revival of highly nutritive traditional crops such as kodo kutki and other millets can be a good strategy,” says Meera Mishra, country coordinator, IFAD.

Growing local and procuring local eliminate the need to transport food and its carbon footprint. In this context the Madhya Pradesh government’s Samagra database and model of cash transfers deserve special mention. The model is now being used by almost all the departments of the state for various programmes, including a pilot on cash transfers for the PDS to implement the National Food Security Act. Coupled with good governance, cash transfers can eliminate pilferage, which eats into benefits meant for the poor.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO’s) work shows that besides plugging leakages, cash transfers have a multiplier effect on farm outputs and initiating microenterprises. In Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, cash transfers have improved access to health, education services and reduced child labour. Social protection is particularly helpful for households as women take charge of food and nutrition, children’s education and wellbeing.

“Programmes like the MGNREGA can transform India’s rural economy through creation of public and private goods such as terracing, irrigation and other infrastructures, besides injecting income into the local economy,” says Shyam Khadka, the FAO’s India representative. Brazil’s Bolsa Familia programme is a shining example of how about 50 million people are assisted. Since its introduction 12 years ago, 36 million Brazilians were lifted out of poverty. For every Brazilian Real spent, the economy at large gains an estimated 1.87 Brazilian Reals. Brazil has shown how rather than just giving handouts, social protection should focus on sustainable pathways out of poverty and food insecurity.

Ashim Choudhury is communications consultant, Food and Agriculture Organization

Source: Hindustan Times, 2-`11-2015

Some improvements in child malnutrition: data

ight States have reduced the proportion of underweight children.

New official data on nutrition in India’s nine poorest States has shown that while most states have successfully reduced the number of underweight children over the last decade, their record in reducing child stunting has been more mixed. While Bihar and Uttarkhand improved on all indicators, Uttar Pradesh got worse on all.

The Office of the Registrar General of India released the findings of the Clinical, Anthropometric and Bio-chemical (CAB) Survey this week. The survey was conducted in 2014 as a sub-component of the Annual Health Survey, which collects health information from a representative sample of every district in India’s eight Empowered Action Group (EAG) States — Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand – and Assam. A one-time survey, the CAB collected district-level data on key anthropometric indicators including child stunting, child wasting and children underweight.

The last time India collected anthropometric data was in 2005-2006, as part of the National Family Health Survey III. While the NFHS III and the CAB were conducted on different samples, both sets of findings are meant to be representative at the State level, officials from both agencies confirmed to The Hindu. A comparison between the NFHS and the CAB shows that eight of the nine States were successful in substantially reducing the proportion of underweight children; Uttar Pradesh was the only State, where the proportion actually rose slightly over the last decade.

The new data comes in the backdrop of the NDA government’s flip-flop over the release of the Rapid Survey of Children (RSOC), a nation-wide sample survey commissioned by the previous government and conducted by Unicef. The RSOC had shown substantial improvements in all child health indicators, but its findings were initially not released by the new government, and later made public after media including The Hindu reported on leaked findings.

The RSOC’s findings on other child anthropometric indicators like child wasting (weight for height more than two standard deviations below the expected) and child stunting (height for age more than two standard deviations below the expected) are far more optimistic than the CAB’s. While the RSOC found improvements in all CAG States on child stunting, the CAB finds that only five States — Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Uttarakhand — improved. On child wasting, only four — Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand — improved. The CAB confirms the RSOC’s finding that while girls were more likely than boys to be underweight in 2005-2006, boys were slightly more likely to be underweight as of 2014.

Keywords: Empowered Action Group States, bio-chemical survey, malnutrition rates, malnutrition in India's poorest States, official data on nutrition

High prices of food lead to malnutrition, says study

High food prices result in malnutrition in India, says a study done on children from Andhra Pradesh.

The research published in the Journal of Nutrition says spikes in food prices during the last global recession were associated with a higher risk of malnutrition among Indian children. 

The researchers from the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the University of Oxford, with a team from Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, examined the children who experienced “wasting”, a widely-used measure of malnutrition that shows a child has a lower-than-expected weight given their height. This is based on the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The researchers have used survey data from a sample of 1,918 children from poor, middle-income, and wealthy households living in the state, since 2002 for a longitudinal study on child poverty.

The researchers observed progress in child nutrition between 2002 and 2006 when the proportion of wasted children in (undivided) Andhra Pradesh fell slightly from 19 per cent to 18 per cent. However, this improvement had reversed by 2009 when 28 per cent of children were wasting—an increase of 10 percentage points compared with 2006. This was after high inflation in food prices, beginning in 2007 and continuing through 2009. 

The researchers found that children’s food consumption dropped significantly between 2006 and 2009 as food prices increased. There were corresponding increases in wasting among children from poor and middle-income households, but not high-income households between 2006 and 2009. The paper suggests this supports the theory that poorer households have the smallest food reserves and are therefore hardest hit by rising food prices.

The researchers examined interview data from each household on food expenditure based on 15-day periods in 2006 and 2009 across eight food categories (rice, wheat, legumes, meat, fish, eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables). To examine the rise in food prices, the researchers used monthly price records collected by the Government of India. 

Lead author of the study from PHFI, Sukumar Vellakkal, said that these findings suggest that poorer households face the greatest risk of malnutrition, in spite of the public distribution system, which provides subsidised food to a large proportion of the population. Better targeting of food security policies may be necessary to meet the needs of India’s most vulnerable households, he added.

Study co-author Jasmine Fledderjohann, of the University of Oxford, said, “Our findings show a sharp increase in wasting associated with food price spikes. It is possible that this rise would have been even greater without governmental programmes like the Public Distribution Scheme or the Midday Meal Scheme, which provides free meals to school children. It’s important to recognise that households may try a number of strategies to cope with rising food prices, such as going without, or switching to low-cost alternatives. More detailed research is needed in this area.”

Over 50% of children under five stunted in UP

Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Tripura are the only States which have reduced the proportion of underweight adolescent girls according to the findings of the Rapid Survey on Children (RSOC), a nation-wide sample survey of over one lakh households conducted by the UNICEF.

The State-level numbers reveal that while some States have made remarkable progress in battling child malnourishment, others have made little progress despite a decade of high growth. Among the developed States, Gujarat is the only one to perform worse than the national average in reducing the numbers of child stunting cases and underweight children.

Almost all States have performed poorly in reducing the number of underweight adolescent girls.

Uttar Pradesh still has the highest levels of child stunting, with over 50 per cent of the children under the age of five underdeveloped, meaning that their height is more than two standard deviations less than the expected height for their age for that population.

Jharkhand, meanwhile, has the highest number of underweight children under the age of five, meaning their weight for age is more than two standard deviations less than what would be expected.

Kerala remains the best performing State in the number of child stunting cases, while Manipur and Mizoram have the lowest numbers of underweight children.

Delhi and Mizoram reduced child stunting at the fastest rate between 2004-05 — when the last official National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) was conducted — and 2013-14.

While Madhya Pradesh and Bihar still have high levels of underweight children, both States reduced these numbers at fast rates along with Himachal Pradesh.

No State reported an increase in the proportion of children underweight or stunted, a significant reversal from past trends.

The RSOC findings show that at the national level, stunting is higher in rural areas (41.7 per cent) than in urban areas (32.1 per cent), as is the case for underweight children.

Keywords: UNICEF survey, Rapid Survey on Children, India child malnourishment

High percentage of malnourished children causing concern

17 p.c. of newborns in Kalaburagi are underweight

A high percentage of malnourished children and the high number of children born underweight continues to be a major health problem in Kalaburagi, according to the Kalaburagi District Human Development Report-2014.

Common problem

The report, compiled by economist Chaya Degaonkar of Gulbarga University, provides a disturbing picture of the prevalent malnutrition and anaemia, which is common among children and women. In Chittapur taluk, 57.5 per cent of the children were reported as malnourished.

The situation was the same in all taluks with Jewargi reporting 49.74 per cent, Chincholi with 45.62 per cent, Aland taluk with 42.3 per cent, Afzalpur taluk with 37.14 per cent, Sedam taluk with 34.19 per cent and Kalaburagi with 28.88 per cent.

The report also said that nearly 17 per cent of newborns in the district were underweight.

The figures varied from 7.34 per cent in Sedam to 10.16 per cent in Kalaburagi taluks. Chincholi reported 9.51 per cent of newborn as underweight, followed by Aland with 9.10 per cent, Afzalpur with 7.67 per cent, Sedam with 7.34 per cent, Jewargi with 5.60 per cent and Chittapur with 5.14 per cent.

Poverty, gender discrimination, early marriage, high fertility rates, low female literacy rate and a lack of awareness about nutrition were some reasons for the high rate of malnutrition among children in the district, according to the findings.

The low coverage of children under the Integrated Child Development Scheme in the district was also cited as a reason for the low levels of nourishment.

The percentage of children covered under the scheme in the Anganwadi centres was 62.33 per cent.

The coverage was 48.67 per cent in Kalaburagi taluk, 55.75 per cent in Jewargi and 83 per cent in Sedam.

Jan 21 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

India tops malnutrition chart of south Asia

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Severe acute malnutrition should be recognized as a medical emergency, with one million children under five years of age dying in India due to malnutrition-related causes, say activists. A new study in Baran, Rajasthan, and Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh has found that preventable deaths continue to hit children in the poorest areas of the country.According to UNICEF, every year 1 million children under five die due to malnutrition related causes in India. The statistics are alarming and far above the emergency threshold for acute malnutrition (as per WHO classification).
ACF India and Fight Hunger Foundation on Tuesday announced the launch of the Generational Nutrition Program. Speaking about the program, ACF India deputy country director Rajiv Tandon said that there was an urgent need to recognize severe acute malnutrition as a medical emergency. He also stressed on the need for policies to tackle malnutrition and adequate budget for implementation.
The ACF report said that the number of children affected in India is higher than all south Asian countries.
“Within India, scheduled tribes (28%), scheduled castes (21%) and other backward castes (20%) and rural communities (21%) have a high burden of acute malnutrition,” the report said.
In Madhya Pradesh, according to National Family Health Survey-3 (NFHS-3), 40% children were stunted — down from 49% in NFHS-2, 60% underweight — up from 54%, and 33% wasted — compared to the earlier figure of 20%. “The rise in these nutritional indicators is worrisome and it is essential that strategies for addressing it are adopted on a war footing,'' the report said.
Regarding Rajasthan, the report said that according to NFHS-3, 20% of children under five are wasted -an increase from 11.7% in NFHS-2, 24% are stunted as opposed to 52% ealier, and 44% underweight-down from 50.6% in the previous survey .
SC raps Haryana on female feticide cases
Decreasing sex ratio is a threat to the human race and all steps must be taken to stem the tide, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said while directing Haryana to take effective steps to stop the malaise of female feticide. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Sapre directed the state to complete trials of cases for offences of sex determination and female feticide within four months and appoint specialized officers for the same. In Haryana, the sex ratio is at 874:1000, the worst in the country. The court also directed that those who handle investigation and prosecution of such cases be imparted training in judicial academy of Punjab & Haryana HC. TNN

‘Nutritional intake grows in India’

However, the data says the implications are unclear

Per capita calorie intake in India grew marginally for the first time in 30 years, new official data shows, and protein intake grew for the first time in over a decade.

The National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) 2011-12 data on Nutritional Intake was released earlier this week. The data shows that per capita calorie consumption rose to 2099 kilocalories per day in rural areas and 2058 kilocalories per day in urban areas. Both numbers are still below a Planning Commission benchmark of 2,400 kilocalories per day.

But the proportion of acutely under-nourished people seems to be declining; the proportion of Indians who get less than 80 per cent of the recommended nutritional intake has declined to under one in five in rural areas.

The implications of this change are, however, unclear. For one, India’s most developed states have the lowest average calorie consumption, pointing to the fact that higher calorie intake may not be a direct predictor of well-being. While Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra saw slight increases in their per capita calorie consumption between 2009-10 and 2011-12, the number fell in rural Gujarat.

Karnataka’s per capita income is nearly twice that of Jharkhand, but both have nearly the same average calorie consumption in rural areas. Calorie consumption does rise steadily with family incomes, however, in both rural and urban India. The top five per cent of rural Indians consume double the calories as the bottom five per cent.

Several experts The Hindu spoke to were unwilling to comment on the new data, because the implications of calorie consumption has been fiercely disputed by economists over the last few years.

Economists Angus Deaton and Jean Dreze noted in a 2009 Economic and Political Weekly article that calorie intake had declined in a period of rising incomes, and a possible explanation could be lower levels of physical activity.

These possible explanations apart, the Indian population undoubtedly suffered from severe nutritional deficits, they said, of this “puzzle”.

The share of cereals in total calorie intake has steadily declined, the data shows, and is down to just over 60 per cent in rural Indian and 50 per cent in rural India. The share of meats and dairy has grown only slightly, while the share of oils and fats has grown sharply.

While protein intake has grown on average, there are mixed trends among States. Protein intake fell in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, but rose in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Keywords: National Sample Survey Office, NSSO, Nutritional Intake, per capita calorie consumption

Following malnourishment deaths, Rajasthan to screen children

All children, below the age of five, will be examined

Following reports of malnutrition deaths from Baran, the Rajasthan government has decided to screen all the children, below the age of five, in the district. There are approximately 1.6 lakh children in this age group, and children from tribal communities, particularly Sahariya tribes, are severely undernourished.

Health Minister Rajendra Rathore has asked a team of officers to visit the district to monitor the implementation of corrective measures.

In this regard, 300 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) have been trained to screen children, and special teams of doctors and paramedical staff have been deployed in the worst-affected tehsils. Malnourished children identified in door-to-door surveys by ASHAs and ANMs will be brought to treatment centres.

Since April 1,250 severely undernourished children have been identified. Of these, 212 are currently undergoing treatment.

As an incentive, the government is providing Rs. 300 to the families to bring their undernourished children to health centres and an additional Rs. 200 to the mother as compensation for wage loss during the time.

Keywords: Rajasthan malnourishment deaths, Rajasthan government, tribal children, Sahariya tribes

Aug 04 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

`2.3cr children in India malnourished'

Subodh.varma@timesgroup.com





Bihar Has Dubious Distinction Of Having Highest Percentage Of Under-Weight Kids: ICDS

About 2.3 crore children in India, up to 6 years of age, are suffering from malnourishment and are under-weight, according to a status report on the anganwadi (day care center) programme, officially known as ICDS. This staggering number amounts to over 28% of the 8 crore children who attend anganwadis across India.The status report includes state-wise data for underweight children. In Bihar, the proportion of under-weight children is nearly 50%. Andhra Pradesh (37%), Uttar Pradesh (36%), Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh (both 32%) are some of the other large states with a high proportion of children being malnourished.
Delhi reported that a shockingly high 35% of the nearly 7 lakh children who attend anganwadis were un derweight. This shows that the extent of poverty and malnutrition amongst the urban poor is comparable to rural areas despite all the advantages the cities offer.
In all the northeastern states except Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, less than 10% of children were underweight children. Other large states with a comparatively low rate of malnutrition are Maharashtra (11%) and Tamil Nadu (18%).
There has been no comprehensive survey of children's malnutrition in India since the last National Family and Health Survey in 2005-06. That had estimated 46% of children in the 0-3 years age group as underweight after surveying a sample of about 1 lakh households across the country . The data from anganwadis pro vides a snapshot drawing upon a much larger base.
There were an estimated 16 crore children of ages up to 6 years in the country , as per the 2011 Census. Of these, about half seem to be attending the anganwadis going by the records of the programme. Most of those attending anganwadis belong to poorer sections. But large sections do not get access to it. A 2011 Planning Commission evaluation had said that there is a shortfall of at least 30% in coverage.
There are over 13 lakh anganwadis which look after the kids and provide `supplementary nutrition' to them.
As part of their duties, personnel at each anganwadi weigh the attending kids every month and keep a record.
TOI contacted anganwadi workers from several states to confirm the weighing procedures. Till recently, two weighing instruments were provided for each anganwadi center -one pan-type weighing machine for smaller babies and another hanging instrument with a hook at the bottom on which the child is hooked up through a belt or a garment.
In some states, like Delhi, there were cases where the hanging type machine was not in working condition and hence only children up to three years of age could be weighed.
In Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala, workers said that they were weighing children up to 6 years.
Why is it that children's weight is not improving despite getting nutritional supplements at the anganwadis?
In many states, the quality of food given to children is very bad and they may not be eating it, according to AR Sindhu of the Anganwadi Workers' Federation. “Often this is the case where food provision service is outsourced to NGOs,“ she said.

un 23 2014 : The Economic Times (Bangalore)

Why India Eats Badly

Veena S Rao





For an aspiring global power, India suffers from shocking levels of malnutrition
We must overcome our reservations about private sector cooperation in our campaign against malnutrition, and motivate them to do something

T he bad news is that India continues to lead most cou ntries in several malnutri tion and mortality indica tors. The latest UN report places India's maternal mortality as highest in the world at 17% of global maternal mortality . The good news is that the BJP manifesto said that “extreme poverty and malnutrition will be treated as a national priority and will be addressed on mission mode“. This has to be done, because our malnutrition dimensions have now reached a situation of alarm with more than 50% suffering from some form of malnutrition or micronutrient deficiency , resulting in suboptimal cognitive and physical development, low productivity and high health costs.Malnutrition in India is not a woman and child phenomenon, but a population problem. Data of underweight/stunting of children of both sexes, low body mass index and chronic energy deficiency of adolescent girls and boys, and adults, are worrisome, and not what an aspiring world power should have. This demographic emergency should have been addressed through a national programme.
Previous governments have failed to curb this. The Budget speech of 2012 announced a multi-sectoral programme to be rolled out during 2012-13 to address maternal and child malnutrition in 200 high-bur den districts. However, no imple mentation template was sent out to state governments, and I am in formed that this is currently still the subject of discussion in states.
But, wisely , the government real ised that malnutrition needed more than ICDS to cure it, and initiated the policy shift towards the inter sectoral strategy , something that a had been recommended by the Na tional Nutrition Policy , 1993.
We must pick up from this multi sectoral shift and compose a stratet gy that rectifies the disconnect bes tween the causes of malnutrition l and the interventions on offer. Ins dia's under-nutrition is intergenert ational, and rooted not only in pov erty and the lack of balance between y calories, proteins and micronu trients, but also lack of information e and gender inequity .
e The present interventions do not address structural and systemic causes of India's malnutrition; they are inadequate with poor coverage, n and riddled with gaps. This is why l their impact has been suboptimal.
d Start at the Block The unit for inter-sectoral intervena tions should be the block, and not the district, as the former is more h compact and homogeneous, making it easier to engineer “convergence“.
The minimum, basic inter-sectoral e convergence requires that every tar geted family must receive simultas neously benefits of calorie-proteind micronutrient supplementation, full immunisation of children, IFA for addressing anaemia, safe drink ing water and hygienic sanitation.
Actual convergence must happen l at the community level; its success g can be tested through monitoring d how many families in a village have t simultaneously received these five c benefits, four of which are ongoing y government programmes. Gender e, equity and female literacy , also bacy ked by national programmes, are in direct interventions that result in improved nutritional status, throu gh late marriage, fewer children and better awareness.
t But who will ensure and monitor e this convergence at the community g level? Regardless of government “. orders and advisories from above, l there must be one functionary in reach village who should be given reasponsibility to ensure this. Present ly, there is no one, and we have no , data about how many households A have received the complete package of their benefits.
n Let Private Players in s We must also overcome our reserva g tions about private sector coopera e tion in our campaign against mal nutrition, and motivate them to assume some responsibility . Maybe companies could make available ap propriate low-cost energy foods for poor and malnourished children, women, adolescent girls and boys, the sick, aged and infirm, in rural and urban markets. There is a huge market vacuum in this respect, which has been filled by forcefully advertised low-cost junk food and tobacco products.
Just Do It India has a sound National Nutrition Policy, 1993, which requires a little updating and lots of implementation. On its recommendation, the National Nutrition Council headed by the Prime Minister was constituted in 1994. This council never met, and after much criticism, was replaced by the PM's Committee on Nutrition Challenges in 2008.
The terms of this panel were limited to providing policy direction and reviewing nutrition programmes, without any mandate for fresh strategies for specifically reducing malnutrition.
The new government could begin by revisiting the committee's composition and mandate, and tasking it with the responsibility of drawing up its blueprint for addressing malnutrition in mission mode.
The writer is a former secretary to the government of India