Relevance : GS Paper II
Theme of the Article
Effective monitoring and implementation of programmes are required for the country to achieve its goal by 2022.
Why has this issue been raised?
Despite programme commitments since 1975, such as creating Integrated Child Development Services and national coverage of the mid-day meal scheme, India continues to grapple with a high rate of undernutrition.
Stunting
- Stunting has lifelong consequences on human capital, poverty and equity.
- It leads to less potential in education and fewer professional opportunities.
- According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4, India has unacceptably high levels of stunting.
- In 2015-16, 38.4% of children below five years were stunted and 35.8% were underweight.
- Stunting leads to slower economic growth. The World Bank says, “A 1% loss in adult height due to childhood stunting is associated with a 1.4% loss in economic productivity”.
- Stunting also has lasting effects on future generations. Since 53.1% of women were anaemic in 2015-16, this will have lasting effects on their future pregnancies and children. The situation further worsens when infants are fed inadequate diets.
- Decadal decline in stunting from 48% in 2006 to 38.4% in 2016 is only one percentage point a year.
- In terms of geographical regions, Bihar (48%), Uttar Pradesh (46%) and Jharkhand (45%) have very high rates of stunting. While nutrition has improved across all States, inter-State variabilities remain extremely high.
- India has more stunted children in rural areas as compared to urban areas, possibly due to the low socio-economic status of households in those areas.
- Almost double the prevalence of stunting is found in children born to mothers with no schooling as compared to mothers with 12 or more years of schooling.
National Nutrition Strategy
- The aim of the National Nutrition Strategy of 2017 is to achieve a malnutrition-free India by 2022.
- The plan is to reduce stunting prevalence in children (0-3 years) by about three percentage points per year by 2022 from NFHS-4 levels, and achieve a one-third reduction in anaemia in children, adolescents and women of reproductive age.
Way forward
- Serious alignment among line ministries, convergence of nutrition programmes, and stringent monitoring of the progress made in achieving these goals are required.
- Stunting prevalence tends to increase with age and peaks at 18-23 months. Timely nutritional interventions of breastfeeding, age-appropriate complementary feeding, full immunisation can prove effective in improving outcomes in children.
- Vitamin A deficiency can increase infections like measles and diarrhoeal diseases. About 40% of children don’t get full immunisation and Vitamin A supplementation. They must be provided these for disease prevention.
- The inter-generational cycle of malnutrition is to be tackled with effective interventions for both mother (pre- and post-pregnancy) and child, to address the high burden of stunting.
- The most significant decline in stunting has been noted in Chhattisgarh (a 15 percentage point drop in the last decade). Thus, the government can take lessons from Chhattisgarh.
- Stunting shows a steady decline with increase in household income.
- It is imperative to push for convergence of health and nutrition programmes right from pregnancy until the child reaches five years of age.
Conclusion
India must adopt a multi-pronged approach in bringing about socio-behavioural change. What is really needed is effective monitoring and implementation of programmes to address malnutrition.
