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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | A 'women-centric' approach for gains in nutrition -Malancha Chakrabarty

A 'women-centric' approach for gains in nutrition -Malancha Chakrabarty

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published Published on Sep 29, 2017   modified Modified on Sep 29, 2017
-The Asian Age

On the one hand, there are states like Kerala and Goa which have a low burden of undernutrition.

India has won significant battles against malnutrition. Unlike a few decades ago, instances of severe malnutrition such as kwashiorkor and marasmus are now rare. Latest figures from the National Family Health Survey revealed that there has been a ten percentage point decline in stunting from about 48 per cent in 2005-06 to 38.4 per cent in 2015-16. However, national figures mask regional variations. On the one hand, there are states like Kerala and Goa which have a low burden of undernutrition. On the other hand, there are states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh which have a high incidence of undernutrition.

Within the states also, there is considerable variation. Despite stunting levels in Odisha being 34.1 per cent (also known as “high prevalence”) certain districts such as Cuttack (15.3 per cent) and Puri (16.1 per cent) are among the top 10 “low stunting level” districts in the country. Similarly, in Karnataka, districts like Mandya have stunting rates as low as 18.6 per cent while others like Koppal have levels as high as 55.8 per cent. However, overall India’s record in addressing undernutrition has been much poorer when compared to other countries in South Asia such as China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Thus, the war against undernutrition is hardly over and meeting the World Health Assembly targets will be an uphill task for India. Moreover, the problem of undernutrition in India coexists with the problem of overweight and obesity and associated non-communicable diseases for a small section of the population which is affluent. The Observer Research Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation organised a consultation on malnutrition with some of the best experts in the country to explore the reasons behind India’s poor performance in addressing undernutrition and suggest appropriate policy interventions.

Although India has a plethora of policies and schemes to reduce undernutrition, there has been a basic flaw in our approach.

The discourse on undernutrition in India has been “food-centric” or in recent years, “ICDS centric”.

Social determinants of undernutrition have largely been ignored, particularly, the role of women.

India needs a more “woman-centric” approach towards tackling undernutrition for it is not food but birth which determines whether a child will be stunted or not.

In Purnima Menon’s words, “the biggest risk factor for being stunted is who you are born to”.

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The Asian Age, 27 September, 2017, http://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/270917/a-women-centric-approach-for-gains-in-nutrition.html


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