The National Family Health Survey-5 report shows that in the 22 states and UTs covered under phase I, a majority reported an increase in malnutrition parameters such as stunting and wasting of children, anaemia in children and in women between 15-49 years of age.
How hunger came back to haunt India
Starting in the mother’s womb, the first 1,000 days of a child’s life provide a window of opportunity to improve the child’s nutrition and health outcomes. Those are closely linked to better education, earnings, and health outcomes in later life.
(Photo: HT)
Reetika Khera
With data showing a worrying rise in child undernutrition, urgent action is required. Where are the gaps?
Getting ICDS services running immediately should be top priority, along with a resumption in school meals. Since malls and cinema halls have reopened, anganwadis should too
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Putting food at the centre of India’s nutrition agenda
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Updated:
December 18, 2020 00:40 IST
Reducing the burden of child undernutrition needs a policy goal providing affordable access to quality food items
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Reducing the burden of child undernutrition needs a policy goal providing affordable access to quality food items
The provisional verdict from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 2019-20 factsheets on the burden of child undernutrition is not encouraging, with few exceptions. For the most part, this assessment has relied on the measure of a child’s anthropometry, i.e., children are defined as stunted, underweight or wasted if their standardised height-for-age, weight-for-age or weight-for-height, respectively, is more than two standard deviations below the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards median.