Current Status of Malnutrition in India.

WHO has defined malnutrition as deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s

intake of energy and/or nutrients. The term malnutrition addresses 3 broad groups of
conditions: undernutrition, which includes wasting (low weight-for-height), stunting (low
height-for-age) and underweight (low weight-for-age);micronutrient-related malnutrition,
which includes micronutrient deficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals) or
micronutrient excess; and overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases
(such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers).
Despite India's 50% increase in the Gross domestic product (GDP since 2013, more
than one-third of the world's malnourished children live in India. Among these, half of the
children under three years old are underweight (Singh et al.. 2019. One of the major causes
of malnutrition in India is economic inequality. Due to the low economic status of some
parts of the population, their diet often lacks in both quality and quantity. Women who
suffer from malnutrition are less likely to have healthy babies. Nutrition deficiencies inflict
long-term damage to both individuals and society. Compared with their better-fed peers
nutrition-deficient individuals are more likely to have infections diseases such as pneumonia
and tuberculosis, which lead to a higher mortality rate. Besides, nutrition-deficient
individuals are less productive at work. Low productivity not only gives them low pay that
traps them in a vicious circle of under-nutrition but also brings inefficiency to the society,
especially in India where labor is a major input factor for economic production.On the other
hand. Over nutrition also has severe consequences. In India national obesity rates in 2010
were 14% for women and 18% for men with some urban areas having rates as high as 40%.
Obesity causes several non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases,
diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases (Kumar & Sinha, 2020). The World Bank
estimates that India is one of the highest-ranking countries in the world for the number of
children suffering from malnutrition. The prevalence of m underweight children in India is
among the highest in the world and is nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa with dire
consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity, and economic growth.The 2017 Global
Hunger Index (GHI) Report by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ranked
India 100th out of 118 countries with a serious hunger situation (Singh et al., 2021).
Amongst South Asian nations, it ranks third behind only Afghanistan and Pakistan with a GHI
score of 29.0. The 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report ranked India 102nd out of 117
countries m with a serious issue of child wasting. At least one in five children under the age
of five years in India is wasted (Kumar and Gautam, 2022).According to the Ministry of
Women & Child Development. Government ofIndia. Annual Report 2018, India is one of
the fastest-growing countries in terms of population and economics, sitting at a population
of 1.365 billion and growing at 1.5%–1.7% annually (from2001 to 2007).Though more than a
quarter of the population is still living below the National Poverty Line its economic growth
indicates new opportunities and a movement towards an increase in the prevalence
of chronic diseases which is observed in at high rates in developed countries such as the
United States, Canada, and Australia. The combination of people living in poverty and the
recent economic growth of India has led to the co-emergence of two types of malnutrition:
undernutrition and over nutrition.On the Global Hunger Index India is in place 67 among the
80 nations having the worst hunger situation which is worse than nations such as North
Korea or Sudan. 25% of all hungry people worldwide live in India. Since 1990 there have
been some improvements for children but the proportion of hungry in the population has
increased. In India 44% of children under the age of 5 are underweight 72% of infants and
52% of married women have anaemia. Research has conclusively shown that
malnutrition during pregnancy causes the child to have an increased risk of future diseases,
physical retardation, and reduced cognitive abilities(Chakrabarti, 2019). An estimated 23.6%
of the population of India lives below a purchasing power of $1.25 a day. This poverty does
not directly lead to malnutrition but it leaves a large chunk of the population without
adequate amounts of food. This makes a lack of access to food since people are too poor to
go out and purchase it. According to the Registrar General of India, the mortality of children
under the age of five was about 59 out of every 1000 live births which is one of the highest
rates in the world (Kumar & Gautam, 2022). It is reported by Save the Children that this is
mainly due to malnutrition in the children. Poor nutrition within the first thousand days of a
child’s life can have many negative causes to them. It can lead to stunted growth,
impaired cognitive ability, reduced school performance, and diseases like diarrhoea.
According to a report,68% of deaths in children under 5 years of age, in India, are due to
malnutrition
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), malnutrition is a major
contributor to the disease burden in India and a predominant risk factor for death among
children younger than 5 years of age (Kumar & Gautam, 2022). It says that well-
nourished children become healthier adults as they can grow, learn, play and participate
better in their communities and are also more resilient in the face of crisis. However, as
evident from the government data, many children are unable to get the nutrition
they need because of which undernutrition,malnutrition, and rising over nutrition are
still pressing issues in the country. In March 2022, theMinistry of Women and Child
Development (MWCD) said that the country has around 10 lakh children with Severe Acute
Malnutrition. The first phase of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, which was
conducted in17 states and five Union Territories in 2019, shows a worsening of performance
in all the parameters related to malnutrition.
Around 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age are linked to undernutrition.
These mostly occur in low- and middle-income countries. At the same time, in these same
countries, rates of childhood overweight and obesity are rising. The developmental,
economic, social, and medical impacts of the global burden of malnutrition are serious and
lasting, for individuals and their families, for communities and for countries.

Current Status of Poverty in India.

Poverty elimination has remained a major challenge right from independence and lies
at the core of India's national development agenda to create a just and equitable society.
Given the limited resources, reliable estimation of poverty is the first step towards
eradication of poverty as a basic input for design, implementation and monitoring of anti
poverty programmes. Poverty measurement is also important to serve as a barometer of the
extent of the success of strategies for inclusive growth and poverty reduction.Poverty can be
defined as a condition in which an individual or household lacks the financial resources to
afford a basic minimum standard of living. However, the perception regarding what
constitutes poverty may vary over time and across countries. The conventional approach to
measuring poverty is to specify a minimum expenditure (or income) required to purchase a
basket of goods and services necessary to satisfy basic human needs. This expenditure is
called the poverty line. The basket of goods and services necessary to satisfy basic human
needs is the Poverty Line Basket (PLB). Poverty can be measured in terms of the number of
people living below this line (with the incidence of poverty expressed as the head count
ratio (HCR) or the poverty ratio - number of poor to the total population expressed as
percentage). Globally, countries use different measures for measuring poverty but the
underlying principle remains the same - a poverty line is calculated based on of consumption
required for maintaining some minimum standard of living in the country. However,
complexities of measuring incidence of poverty in a comparable manner over time and
across regions have given rise to alternative approaches also such as measures of the depth
of poverty and of its severity. India is still a developing country. Although the country’s
economy is improving, poverty remains a serious issue. India, on the other hand is
experiencing a drop in poverty. As per paper issued by the International Monetary Fund,
India’s overwhelming poverty rate was as slow as 0.8 % in 2019 despite the global Covid-19
pandemic.
The 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index published by the UN Development
Program has estimated that multidimensional poverty in India has fallen by 27.5% between
2005-06 and 2015-16. Multidimensional poverty means the estimation of poor not only
based on income but also several factors such as poor health, poor working conditions, etc.
According to World Poverty Clock, close to 44 Indians are escaping from extreme poverty
each minute. As of 2011, 21.9% of the Indian population belongs below the poverty line. The
unemployment rate as of April 2021 is 7.1%. This is a huge problem as unemployment is the
direct cause of poverty in the country. The recent years saw a rapid increase in
infrastructural developments like roads and housing projects for the alleviation of the poor.
This might help boost investments in the country increasing job opportunities.
According to a World Bank working paper, extreme poverty in India dropped to 10.2%
in the pre-Covid year of 2019 from as much as 22.5% in 2011 . But the sudden outbreak of
the novel coronavirus in the early 2020 pushed many into poverty in India . It is estimated
that 150-199 million additional people will fall into poverty at the end of 2023. Due to the
pandemic, there were job cuts on a large scale. The poverty rate of India is set to rise .
According to the CMIE report, around 7 million jobs were lost in a year. The consumption
expenditure has come down and the public spending on development was sluggish.
So ,poverty in India is expected to rise in the coming days. The world’s largest economy also
has one of its largest rate of Child poverty
India has more than halved it’s number of severely poor individuals, according to a
World Bank working paper issued in the month of April 2023. Between 2011 and 2019,
people earned less than $1.9 per day on a purchasing power parity basis. The report says “
within a decade, India May lift the final 10% of its population out of extreme poverty.
According to an IMF research, India had nearly eradicated extreme poverty by 2020-21 when
food subsidies are considered in.

Covid induced poverty according to Pew report

o Poor people:
o The poverty rate in India likely increases to 9.7% in 2020, up sharply from the January
2020 forecast of 4.3%.
o From 2011 to 2019, the number of poor in India was estimated to have decreased to
78 million from 340 million.
o In 2020, the number increased by 75 million.
 Poor: People with incomes of USD 2 or less a day.
  Increase in India accounts for nearly 60% of the global increase in poverty.
o Record increase in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MGNREGS) participants as proof that the poor were struggling to find work.
 Middle Class: The middle class in India is estimated to have shrunk by 3.2
crores in 2020.
 Middle Class: people with incomes of around Rs. 700-1,500 or USD 10-20 per
day.
o The middle-income group is likely to have decreased from almost 10 crores to just
6.6 crores.
 Low Income Group:
o The huge majority of India’s population falls into the low-income group.
o This group shrank from 119.7 crores to 116.2 crores per day, with about 3.5 crores
dropping below the poverty line.
o Low Income Group: people earning about Rs.150 to 700 per day.
 Rich Population:
o The richer population also fell almost 30% to 1.8 crore people.
o Rich: Includes the people who earn more than Rs.1,500 a day.
 Reasons:
o The lockdown triggered by the pandemic resulted in shut businesses, lost jobs, and
falling incomes, plunging the Indian economy into a deep recession.

Reference
 https://www.iasexpress.net/poverty-india-upsc/
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
362432088_Current_Status_of_Malnutrition_in_India