• Malnutrition in India accounts for 68% of total under-five deaths and 17% of the total disability- adjusted life years. India is home to about 30% of the world’s stunted children and nearly 50 per cent of severely wasted children under the age of five. Besides, India is home to nearly half of the world’s “wasted or acute malnourished” (low weight for height ratio) children in the world.
• India has been ranked 94th among 107 nations in the Global Hunger Index 2020, placing it in the ‘serious’ hunger category. Experts attribute this low ranking to poor implementation processes, ineffective monitoring, a fragmented approach to addressing malnutrition, and lacklustre performance by large states.

Performance Indicators:

1. Undernourishment: 14% of India’s population is undernourished (2017-19), showing improvement from 16.3% in 2011-13.
2. Child Wasting: Child wasting stands at 17.3% (2015-19), compared to 15.1% in 2010-14.
3. Child Stunting: Significant improvement in child stunting, reducing from 54% in 2000 to below 35% currently.
4. Child Mortality: Child mortality has decreased to 3.7%, down from 5.2% in 2012.
5. Gender Disparities: On average, girls under 5 years are healthier than their male counterparts. However, over time, they tend to grow into undernourished women in India.
6. Malnutrition and Anaemia:

• Malnutrition and anaemia are prevalent among Indian adults.
• A quarter of women of reproductive age have a body mass index (BMI) below 18.5 kg/m, indicating undernourishment.
• Both malnutrition and anaemia have increased among women since 1998-99.

7. Underweight and Anaemia Statistics:

• 33% of married women and 28% of men are underweight based on BMI.
• Underweight is more prevalent among the poor, rural population, uneducated adults, and scheduled castes and tribes.
• 2% of women and 24.3% of men suffer from anaemia, with lower-than-normal blood haemoglobin levels.
• Anaemia has increased among ever-married women since 1998-99, reaching almost 58% among pregnant women.

Government effort to fight malnutrition

1. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY):
   • Direct transfer of ₹6,000 to the bank accounts of pregnant women to enhance delivery facilities.
2. POSHAN Abhiyaan:
   • Aims to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight babies through program synergy, convergence, improved monitoring, and enhanced community mobilization.
3. National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013:
   • Ensures food and nutrition security for the most vulnerable through associated schemes, making access to food a legal right.
4. Mid-day Meal (MDM) Scheme:
   • Aims to improve nutritional levels among school children, positively impacting enrollment, retention, and attendance.
5. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS):
   • Operates through 1.4 million Anganwadi Centres, benefiting nearly 100 million individuals, including pregnant and nursing mothers and children up to 6 years.
6. Public Distribution System (PDS):
   • Reaches over 800 million people under the National Food Security Act.
7. National Nutrition Strategy (NNS):
   • Developed by NITI Aayog, targeting the 100 most backward districts for stunting interventions.
8. Ambitious Targets:
   • NNS and POSHAN Abhiyaan set targets for 2022, aiming to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, and low birth weight by 2% annually and anaemia by 3% annually.
9. Comprehensive Approach:
   • Focus areas include Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF), Food and Nutrition, Immunization, Institutional Delivery, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), De-worming, ORS-Zinc, Food Fortification, Dietary Diversification, Adolescent Nutrition, Maternal Health and Nutrition, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Convergence, ICT-RTM (Information and Communication Technology enabled Real-Time Monitoring), and Capacity Building.