Global Hunger Index,2018: 21% Indian Children are Under-Weight due to Acute Under-Nutrition

October 12,2018:

According to Global Hunger Index,2018, atleast one in five Indian Children under age of five are wasted, which means they have extremely low weight for their height, reflecting acute under-nutrition.

The only country with a higher prevalence of child wasting is war-torn nation of South Sudan, states the Report.

Overall, India has been ranked at 103 out of 119 countries in the Index, with the hunger levels in the country categorised as “serious”.

India’s ranking has dropped three places from last year, although Index states that its results are not accurately comparable from year to year and instead provides a few reference years for the comparable data.

2018 scores reflect data from 2013-2017.

Four main indicators are used to calculate the hunger levels in the report, which is a peer-reviewed publication released annually by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

First indicator is undernourishment, which is share of the population which is undernourished and reflects insufficient caloric intake.

Next three indicators use of the data for children under five: Child Wasting (low weight for height), Reflecting Acute under-nutrition; Child Stunting (low height for age), Reflecting Chronic under-nutrition; and Child mortality.

India showed improvement in three of the indicators over comparable reference years. The percentage of undernourished people in the population has dropped from 18.2% in 2000 to 14.8% in 2018.

Child mortality rate has halved from 9.2% to 4.3%, while child stunting has dropped from 54.2% to 38.4% over the same period.

Child wasting has actually worsened in comparison to the previous reference years. It stood at 17.1% in 2000, and increased to 20% in 2005. In 2018, it stands at 21%. South Sudan’s child wasting prevalence is at 28%.

Child wasting is high across South Asia, constituting a “critical public health emergency”, according to UN organisations.

Source Hindu