The way to tackle malnutrition

The way to tackle malnutrition

Why in news ?

According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, there are negligible gains in nutritional outcomes among under-5 children. There has been slow progress in reducing under nutrition, wasting and stunting.

National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5

  • Even now 35.5% of under-five children are stunted, 19.3% are wasted and 32% are
    underweight.
  • Though institutional delivery has gone up but still early initiation of breastfeeding is static
  • Anaemia among adolescent girls and women aged 15-49 has also worsened.
    •   Childhood anaemia has worsened compare to NFHS-4. 

What is malnutrition?

Malnutrition is defined as lack of ability to perform an activity which is considered normal. For example, fighting diseases or physical growth. Malnutrition also called malnourishment. 

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients.  

The term malnutrition includes:

  • Undernutrition, which includes wasting (low weight-for-height), stunting (low heightfor-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).

Undernutrition is defined as a physical state, that results due to the lack of intake of nutrition, causing changes in body composition and body cell mass. It adversely affects the physical and mental functional status of the affected person.

Wasting: Low weight-for-height is known as wasting. 

  • It usually indicates severe weight loss, because a person has not had enough food to eat and/or they have had an infectious disease, such as diarrhoea, which has caused them to lose weight.
  • A young child who is moderately or severely wasted has an increased risk of death, but treatment is possible.

Stunting: Low height-for-age is known as stunting.

  • It results due to chronic or recurrent undernutrition, generally associated with poor socioeconomic conditions, poor maternal health and nutrition, frequent illness, and/or inappropriate infant and young child feeding and care in early life.
  • Stunting holds children back from reaching their physical and cognitive potential.

Underweight: Children with low weight-for-age are known as underweight.

  • A child who is underweight may be stunted, wasted, or both.
 

Reasons of malnutrition in India-

There are several reasons which acts in combined form and causes malnutrition in India:

  • Poverty – It is the main reason behind the lack of adequate nutritional food which results in malnutrition and affects most vulnerable populations.
  • Lack of sanitation and clean drinking water: Most of the rural areas and urban slums are still lack in sanitation and clean drinking water facilities which make them vulnerable to chronic intestinal diseases that prevent bodies from making good use of nutrients in food, and they become malnourished.  
  • Food patterns: The changes in food consumption patterns in India over the past few decades, has resulted in the disappearance of many nutritious local foods.  
  • Monoculture agricultural practice – Though food grains production has increased many times since Independence, still there is lack of nutritional foodgrains. o It has led to the degradation of land and food-derived through them.  
  • Social inequality: Poor malnourished girls are married at an early age and they have malnourished children. 
    • Girl children are more likely to be malnourished than boys.  

How to tackle malnutrition?

  • Exclusive Breastfeeding: There should be successful initiation of breastfeeding in the hospitals, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives must continue to moniter exclusive breastfeeding till the infant is six months old.
    • They must record the timely initiation of complementary feeding with soft gruel as this is the critical period of growth that we cannot afford to be compromised
  • Take-home ration: It must be ensured that take-home ration is provided for under three-children through the regular supply of supplementary nutrition from the Integrated Development Child Services.
  • Regular monitoring: There is a need to know the regularity and quantity of dry rations supplied to anganwadis and schools for mid-day meals, preparation of menu and procuring locally available vegetables for dietary diversification.
  • Family pot – Family pot is important means, what goes into the family pot and depends on what parents can earn and their purchasing capacity.
  • As the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau was shut down some years ago, there is no data on what families can afford to cook and their affordability.
  • It is important to monitor the MGNREG Scheme wages earned in areas where droughts frequently occur, where there is mass migration and where there is prevalence of high malnutrition.  

 

Schemes Launched by Government of India to tackle malnutrition:

The Government of India has launched several schemes to address the problems of the high rate of malnutrition in India.
1. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)-
    • It is one of the flagship programmes of the government of India and represents one of the world’s largest and unique programmes for early childhood care and development.
    • ICDS scheme is under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
 2. National Nutrition Mission-
  •  It is the government’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. 
  •  Aim: To reduce stunting and wasting by 2 per cent per year (total 6 per cent until 2022) among children and anaemia by 3 per cent per year (total 9 per cent until 2022) among children, adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal ministry for implementation.
3. Mid-Day Meal Scheme-
  • This scheme was launched in 1995. o The target of this scheme is to provide hot-cooked meal to children aged between 6 years to 14 years.  
4. POSHAN Abhiyaan- 
  • Launched by the Prime Minister on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on 8 March, 2018.
    • The objective of the mission is to reduce the level of under-nutrition and also enhance the nutritional status of children in the country.
Conclusion-
Malnutrition can be reduced by enhancing women health, promoting gender equality and female education. We cannot say that it is responsibility of government only, there should be enhanced participation of citizens, Panchayats can also be allowed to have a bigger say in running welfare schemes. 

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