Malnutrition

As stated by The World Health Organisation (WHO)-

Malnutrition includes all forms such as undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight), inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight, obesity, and resulting diet-related noncommunicable diseases. There are various types of malnourishment such as:

1. Undernutrition- when there is a lack of required amounts of nutrients. This category also includes wasting(low weight-for-height), stunting (low height-for-age) and underweight (low weight-for-age).

2. Micronutrient malnutrition- when there are various micronutrient(minerals, vitamins, proteins etc) deficiencies or are in excess.

3. Overweight- when the person is overweight or obese which can lead to various dangerous diseases such as heart disease, a stroke and diabetes.

SYMPTOMS

There are various symptoms of malnourishment such as

• Reduced appetite

• Feeling tired and feeling cold most of the time

• Lack of interest in food

• Feeling of weakness

• Takes long time to recover after getting il

• lLess strength

• Injuries take longer time to heal.

• Lack of concentration

When the above symptoms are seen it is immediately advised to see a doctor who will guide you with further treatment .When the above symptoms are seen it is immediately advised to see a doctor who will guide you with further treatment.

CAUSES OF MALNOURISHMENT

Poverty is the first and foremost cause of malnourishment in India precisely as due to poverty, the poor strata of the society don't get the required amount of nutrients like vitamins and minerals which makes them vulnerable to various diseases. Malnourishment leads to poor growth and intellectual impairment.

The next cause could be inequity wherein both under nutrition, overweight and obesity are caused due to the various unequal food and health systems in India. Unhealthy lifestyles such as intake of junk food which is available at very cheap rates and is accessible to all and inadequate dietary intake among various people these days are the main causes of malnourishment. Poor hygiene and no proper system of drinking water in various parts of India has also led to lack of availability of clean water for drinking purposes being one of the causes.

There are various statutory standards regarding the procedure and timeline of an infant's feed which is lacking as many mothers are still unaware of these facts. All of the above are the causes not only lead to high rate of malnourishment but also to propagation of various diseases.

STATISTICS

Every country in the world is affected by malnourishment. India is ranked at 102 out of 117 countries in the hunger index. Every one out of the three children in the age group of (0-15)years are undernourished. There are 19.8 million children below age 6 in India are undernourished. More than one million cases per year are witnessed in India of malnourishment. It is very disheartening to see this state of the world. The objective of the United Nations to achieve zero hunger by 2030 seems in jeopardy now warns united nations.

MALNUTRITION IN INDIA

The global nutrition report 2020 states that India is among those 88 countries who are likely to miss the global nutrition targets by 2025. India is home to about 30%of the world's stunted children and about 50% are severely wasted children under the age of five. The food and agriculture organisation (FAO) estimates that around 194.4 million people in India that is around 14.5%of the entire population are undernourished. The measures taken are not sufficient to deal with this problem as even with the 90% of the schemes covered but there will be only a 20% decrease in stunting.

THE FAR REACHING EFFECTS

The problem is the number of deaths occurring because of the malnourishment among the citizens of india. Around 45% of deaths among children (0-5) years of age group is because of the undernutrition. These mostly occur in the low and middle income families. Where many schemes are being taken up by the government to curb this there has been an increase in the overweight and obesity rate. In the year of 2014,around 462 million adults worldwide were underweight while 1.9 billion were either overweight or obese. Also in the year of 2016,there was an estimated 155 million children under the age group of(0-5) years were suffering from stunting, while 41 million were overweight or obese.

COVID-19

Everyone knows that 2020 has been a year of hardships and struggle for many people, so let's just think about the people who don't have homes, food, water to live.

The nationwide lockdown closed down availability to every essential service including mid-day meals, which makes children have nutritional supplements and most importantly have access to education as well

An Organisation named save the children found that there were about 40%children who have not received mid-day meals due to the lockdown. Pandemics does not only distort our daily lifestyle but also proves very detrimental to the poor section of our society who are largely malnourished.

Covid-19 has posed a very serious threat to the health of children and their nutritional rights as well. There is a recent estimate that there can be around 60,000 child deaths in the best possible scenario (3,00,000 in the worst case scenario) in the coming six months due to the health and nutrition services provision in covid-19.

MEASURES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT

World food day is observed on 16th october to address the problem of global hunger. The government has also started a POSHAN abhiyan under which the government will ensure a “Malnutrition Free India” by 2022. The Mid-day meal scheme aims to improve the nutritional levels among the school children which also has a direct effect on enrolment, retention, and attendance in schools. The act of 2013 (National Food Security Act) also aims to ensure the nutrition and food security for the vulnerable section of the society and making access to food a legal right as well.

The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojoana(PMKVY) makes rupees 6000 directly available in the bank accounts of pregnant women for availing better facilities for their delivery.

STEPS THAT CAN BE TAKEN

The above measures are not enough for the removal of malnutrition from the society so many more steps are there which can be taken.

More than half of the population of the below poverty section dont know about the schemes formulated by the government and hence are unaware about them.There is a need to explore all possible solutions and put forward the key policy and proposals regarding the programmes to remove the impact of covid-19 on this arena.

The most important step is to install cheap and healthy food stalls near various cities and rural areas so that the people can have access to cheap and nutritious food. More schemes focussing on the nutrition and care of a pregnant woman, infant and young child. The strict implementation of the already drafted schemes is the urgent need of the hour.

We think it is very tough to initiate any change focussed programme but the truth is even a small step can be beneficial to the big change and as it is said small drops of water make a mighty ocean.

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Written By-

Jasmine Saini