Unit -7 - Population and Quality of life

 Population in relation to socio –economic development, health status, heath services,

nutrition,
 Effect of population growth on natural resources and environment

Quality of life is the degree to which an individual is healthy, comfortable, and able to
participate in or enjoy life events. The term quality of life is inherently ambiguous, as it can
refer both to the experience an individual has of his or her own life and to the living
conditions in which individuals find themselves. Hence, quality of life is highly subjective.
Whereas one person may define quality of life according to wealth or satisfaction with life,
another person may define it in terms of capabilities (e.g., having the ability to live a good
life in terms of emotional and physical well-being). A disabled person may report a high
quality of life, whereas a healthy person who recently lost a job may report a low quality of
life. Thus, quality of life is viewed as multidimensional, encompassing emotional, physical,
material, and social well-being.

WHO defines Quality of Life as an individual's perception of their position in life in the
context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals,
expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complex way
by the person's physical health, psychological state, personal beliefs, social relationships and
their relationship to salient features of their environment.
According to Quality-of-Life Research Center, Denmark, in quality of life research one
often distinguishes between the subjective and objective quality of life. Subjective quality of
life is about feeling good and being satisfied with things in general. Objective quality of life
is about fulfilling the societal and cultural demands for material wealth, social status and
physical well-being.
It is impossible to list all the characteristics related to the concept of "Quality of Life", but
literature has mentioned the following:
 Happiness
 Health
 Employment
 Dignity of life
 Ability
  Adaptation
 Satisfaction of Basic Needs
 Belongingness
 Self-Control
 Enjoyment
 Healthy Environment
 Satisfying life Experiences
 Flexibility
 Freedom
 Fulfilment
 Hopes
 self-Identity
 Judgements
 Knowledge
 Good Living Conditions
 Opportunities
 Satisfaction
 Security
 Self-esteem
 Spiritual calm
 Status
 Good Working Conditions
An important measure associated with the concept of quality of life is the Human
Development Index (HDI). The United Nations Development Programme prepares a list of
HDI rankings of the countries of the world on the basis of four indices. They are:
 Life expectancy at birth
 Adult literacy rate
 Gross Domestic Product
 Average Years of schooling

India’s current (2019) HDI ranking is 129.

Population and socio –economic development:
Socio-economic development may be understood as the process of ensuring social
welfare as a consequence of economic development and progress. When a well planned
process of increasing products and wealth of a nation leads to economic welfare and equality
of all people in the society and the process of such economic development helps in
establishing social justice, inclusion and equality among the rich and the poor then such an
integrated development may be called socio-economic development. However, growth of
population beyond sustainable limits hampers the process of socio-economic development of
a country or society.
Some effects of population growth on socio-economic development are:
 Increase in the size of population results in the decrease of the per capita food supply;
which ultimately leads to lowering of quality of life of people.
 When population growth surpasses the growth of national income, it leads to lowering
of per capita income. Reduction in per capita income prevents people from meeting
needs and demands leading to the lowering of quality of life.
 Rapid growth of population results in large scale unemployment which weakens the
economy resulting in misery and low quality of life of people.
 Rapid increment in the number of people leads to unplanned urbanization and the
growth of slum areas. Quality of life in the slum areas is very low and they are
deprived of bare minimum basic necessities required for living a dignified human life.
 Abnormal and rapid growth of population results in falling standard of education.
Large section of people remains deprived of minimum education. Lack of education
results in ignorance, unemployment and other ills that force people to live a low
quality life.
 Rapid growth of population negatively affects health status, minimum health services,
nutrition and other services. Poor health of people results in death and disability
casting negative impacts on education, employment and other aspects of quality of
life.

Health Status:
According to WHO, health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well
being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The health status of people of a
country generally depends on certain demographic indicators. They are—
  Life expectancy at birth
 Infant mortality rate
 Fertility rate
 Crude birth rate
 Crude death rate
The above mentioned indicators in their turn depend upon some other factors like, per
capita income, nutrition, housing, sanitation, pure drinking water, social infrastructure, health
services, climatic conditions, employment, rate of poverty etc. This is easily understandable
that all these factors are affected by the size of the population of a country.
Following data published by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
Government of India in 2017 can give us some idea about the status of socio-economic status
of our country.
Health services:
https://www.slideshare.net/NidhiChauhan17/health-care-delivery-system-in-india-
97800433
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5144115/pdf/jp2016184a.pdf

NUTRITION:
Nutrition is the science of food values. The effect of food in our body is
explained in nutrition. In other words, nutrition is defined as food at work in the
body. In a broader sense nutrition is defined as “the science of foods, the nutrients
and other substances their action, interaction, and balance in relationship to health
and diseases, the process by which the organism ingests, digests, absorbs, transport
and utilizes nutrients and dispose off their end products, in addition nutrition must
be concerned with the social, economic, cultural and psychological implication of
food and eating.”
Nutrients are defined as the constituents of food, which perform important
functions in our body. If these nutrients are not present in our food in sufficient
amount, the result is ill health. Important nutrients include carbohydrates, proteins
lipids, vitamins, minerals, and water. Food also contains many substances, which
are non–nutrients e.g. colouring and flavouring substances in food. When all essential
nutrients are present in correct amount and proportion as required by our body it is called
optimum nutrition or adequate nutrition. Optimum nutrition is required to maintain good
health.
Malnutrition is an impairment of health either from a deficiency or excess or imbalance of
nutrients. In other words, malnutrition refers to both under nutrition and over nutrition, under
nutrition means a deficiency or lack of one or more nutrients. For example, vitamin A
deficiency and PEM (Protein Energy Malnutrition) are common problems in India. Over
nutrition means excess of one or more nutrients. For example overweight or obesity occurs
when an individual takes more energy than he is able to agenda on his daily activities which
results in accumulation of fat and hence weight increase (overweight).

There are 6 essential nutrients that the body needs to function properly. Nutrients are
compounds in foods essential to life and health, providing us with energy, the building blocks
for repair and growth and substances necessary to regulate chemical processes.
There are six major nutrients: Carbohydrates (CHO), Lipids (fats), Proteins, Vitamins,
Minerals, Water.
Proteins: meat, dairy, legumes, nuts, seafood and eggs
Carbohydrates: pasta, rice, cereals, breads, potatoes, milk, fruit, sugar

Lipids (most commonly called fats): oils, butter, margarine, nuts, seeds, avocados and
olives, meat and seafood

Vitamins: common vitamins include the water soluble B group vitamins and vitamin C and
the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
  Fruits and vegetables are generally good sources of Vitamin C and A and folic
acid (a B group vitamin)
 Grains and cereals are generally good sources of the B group vitamins and
fibre
 Full-fat dairy and egg yolks are generally sources of the fat soluble vitamins
A, D and E
 Milk and vegetable or soya bean oil are generally good sources of vitamin K,
which can also be synthesised by gut bacteria
Minerals: (sodium, calcium, iron, iodine, magnesium, etc.): all foods contain some form of
minerals.
 Milk and dairy products are a good source of calcium and magnesium
 Red meat is a good source of iron and zinc
 Seafood and vegetables (depending on the soil in which they are produced) are
generally good sources of iodine
Water: As a beverage and a component of many foods, especially vegetables and fruits.

Status of nutrition in India:

According to the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study by the University of
Washington, Malnutrition was the top cause of death and disability in India in 2017, followed
by dietary risks including poor diet choices.
Over the years, India has shown exemplary performance in terms of economic
growth, there has been a significant increase in GDP, we are making our way to the moon,
but we are still a country where 194.4 million people are undernourished. This is 14.5 per
cent of the total population, states the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) ‘The State
of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2019′ report. The Global Hunger Index 2018
ranks India at 103 out of 119 countries on the basis of three leading indicators – the
prevalence of wasting and stunting in children under 5 years, child mortality rate under 5
years and the proportion of undernourished in the population. It states that India is suffering
from serious problem of hunger and malnutrition.

What Is Malnutrition?

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of

energy and/or nutrients. The term malnutrition covers ‘undernutrition’—which includes
stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for
age), micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies and overweight, obesity and diet-related
non-communicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer).

Highlights Of The Malnutrition Crisis In India

1. India Has One-Third Of World’s Stunted Children: Stunting, or low height for age is caused
by long-term insufficient nutrient intake and frequent infections. The Global Nutrition
Report 2018 states that India is home to 46.6 million stunted children out of a total of 150.8
million stunted children in the world.
India Has Highest Level Of Child Wasting In South Asia: Wasting, or low weight for height, is a
strong predictor of mortality among children under five. This is usually the result of acute significant
food shortage and/or disease. According to the Global Nutrition Report 2018, India also accounted
for 25.5 million children out of the 50.5 million children who are wasted globally, or half of the global
wasting burden, followed by Nigeria (3.4 million) and Indonesia (3.3 million).

India Has More Than A Million Overweight Children:  Our country also figures among
the set of countries that has more than a million overweight children. The other nations are
China, Indonesia, India, Egypt, US, Brazil and Pakistan, states the Global Nutrition Report
2018. A joint study by Assocham and EY states that apart from facing undernutrition
challenge, Urban India is also suffering from overnutrition. The “Global, regional, and
national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a
systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013” report ranks India as the
third most obese nation in the world after the US and China. Also, India is the diabetes
capital of the world, with about 69.2 million people living with it as per the 2015 data by
World Health Organisation.
Bihar Tops Stunting List; Bihar’s District Stuns Africa In Child Nutrition: The National
Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 2015-2016, India’s biggest survey on the status of health,
shows that as many as 48.3 per cent of Bihar’s children under five years – meaning half the
number of children in the state – are ‘stunted’ owing to poor nutrition. In comparison to this,
only 31.3 per cent children in Africa are found to be stunted, as per WHO.
World Health Organisation (WHO), states that 43 African countries have a lower prevalence
of stunted children than Bihar’s Muzaffarpur. Apart from stunting, Africa outperforms
Muzaffarpur even in checking the prevalence of wasting (being too thin for their height)
among children.

Five Major States Of India Have The Most Malnourished Children |  National Family
Health Survey (NFHS-4) further states that Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jharkhand,
Uttar Pradesh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, have more than 40 per cent of their children
stunted.
In West Bengal, Cases Of Malnutrition Have Increased:  National Family Health Survey
(NFHS-4) states West Bengal has more children under five years of age, who are “wasted”
and “severely wasted”, compared to the last national-level survey held in 2005. According to
NFHS-4 report, 20.3 per cent children in West Bengal are wasted and 6.5 per cent are
severely wasted. In the past, 16.9 per cent children in the same age bracket were wasted and
4.5 per cent were severely wasted.
Breastfeeding Prevents Malnutrition, Yet Mere 54.9 Per Cent Of Babies Are
Exclusively Breastfed |  Breastfeeding is considered the most important cure for malnutrition
and National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) states that only 54.9 per cent of babies in
India are exclusively breastfed and only 41.6 per cent of babies are breastfed in the first hour
of birth. Further, the survey also states that less than 10 per cent of children receive adequate
nutrition in the country.
Anaemia In Mothers Linked With Malnutrition In Children:  As per the United Nations
report, 51.4 per cent of women in reproductive ages are anaemic. Maternal Anaemia has a
significant effect on the nutritional status of young children leading to stunting and
underweight.

India May Loose $46 Billion To Malnourishment By 2030:  The global economic impact of
malnutrition could be a staggering $125 billion by 2030, with India accounting for nearly $46 billion,
according to the first international study of its kind in four countries done by a British charity, ‘Save
the Children’.
Effect of population growth on natural resources and environment:

 Loss of biodiversity
 Desertification and allied problems
 Pollution
 Increased use of natural fuels
 Reduction of usable water level
 Deforestation
 Degradation of land
 Global warming and green house effect
 Natural disasters