Chennai: The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the weakness of food and health systems, disproportionately impacting already vulnerable populations.
As inequalities and malnutrition continue to sweep the world and India, the 2020 Global Nutrition Report stresses that the need to address malnutrition in all its forms by tackling injustices in food and health systems is now more urgent than ever.
The report finds that India remains severely affected by malnutrition, with one of the highest rates of within-country inequalities in malnutrition globally. However, some progress has been made to tackle stunting and underweight, and the country has put in place innovative programmes aimed at reaching the most vulnerable.
India has had some success in reducing rates of underweight in child and adolescents. Between 2000 and 2016, rates have decreased from 66.0% to 58.1% for boys and 54.2% to 50.1% in girls. However, this is still high compared to the average of 35.6% for boys and 31.8% for girls in the Asia region.
“India is one of the countries with the largest within-country inequalities in malnutrition, with some Indian States such as Uttar Pradesh recording stunting levels of over 40%,” it said and added: “Stunting figures among individuals in the lowest income group are more thandouble those in the highest income group at 22.0% and 50.7% respectively. In addition, stunting prevalence is 10.1% higher in rural areas compared to urban areas.”
Speaking at the Global Nutrition Report online launch, Alok Kumar, special advisor to NITI Aayog, said, “Lack of access to food is only one determinant of malnutrition. Addressing it requires us to act on multiple fronts: promoting equity by working on all the social determinants as well as strengthening the governance and delivery systems. At a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has magnified the challenges manifold, we need much greater resolve and commitment to attain our goals.”
The report calls for a change in food systems. Existing agriculture systems still focus on staple grains like rice, wheat and maize, rather than producing a broader range of more diverse and healthier foods, such as fruits, nuts and vegetables.