India sees Reduction in Stunting; but Wasting, Obesity are Concerns: Report
26-08-2023
12:32 PM
1 min read
What’s in today’s article?
- Why in News?
- About Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) Report
- Key Highlights of the JME Report 2022
- Comments on India
- Way Forward
Why in News?
- An inter-agency team of UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank has released the Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) report for 2022.
About Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) Report
- JME is an annual report published jointly by UNICEF, WHO and World Bank.
- The report covers measures of child malnutrition used to track progress towards the child nutrition targets of Sustainable Development Goal 2.
- The report covers child stunting, overweight, underweight, wasting and severe wasting.
Key Highlights of the JME Report 2022
- Stunting –
- Child stunting refers to a child who is too short for his or her age and is the result of chronic or recurrent malnutrition.
- Globally, stunting declined from a prevalence rate of 26.3% in 2012 to 22.3% in 2022.
- India continues to show a reduction in stunting and recorded 1.6 crore fewer stunted children under five years in 2022 as compared to 2012.
- Stunting among children under five years dropped from a prevalence rate of 41.6% in 2012 to 31.7% in 2022.
- Wasting –
- Child wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height and is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight.
- The overall prevalence of wasting in 2022 was 18.7% in India.
- India contributes 49% of the global burden of wasting.
- In India, two-thirds of children at 12 or 24 months had wasting at birth or at one month of age. This means two-thirds of the wasting is caused by maternal malnutrition.
- Overweight –
- Childhood overweight occurs when children’s caloric intake from food and beverages exceeds their energy requirements.
- There are now 37 million children under five living with overweight globally, an increase of nearly 4 million since 2000.
- India had an overweight percentage of 2.8 per cent in 2022, compared to 2.2 per cent in 2012.
Comments on India
- Going by the JME data, UNICEF concludes that India has shown promising progress when it comes to stunting.
- According to UNICEF India officials, multi-sectoral responses under Poshan Abhiyaan in 2018 and continued Poshan 2.0 in 2022 seem to be contributing to the positive shift in the indicators.
Way Forward
- JME released in 2023 reveal insufficient progress to reach the 2025 World Health Assembly (WHA) global nutrition targets and UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goal target 2.2.
- Only about a third of all countries are ‘on track’ to halve the number of children affected by stunting by 2030.
- All forms of malnutrition are preventable.
- To stop malnutrition before it starts, children and their families need access to nutritious diets, essential services and positive practices to set them on the path to survive and thrive.
- But today, these vital pathways to good nutrition are under growing threat, as many countries plunge deep into a global food and nutrition crisis fuelled by poverty, conflict, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
- As the world responds to the crisis, urgent action is critical to protect maternal and child nutrition – especially in the most affected regions – and secure a future where the right to nutrition is a reality for every child.
Q1) Who publishes National Family Health Survey (NFHS)?
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has designated the International Institute for Population Sciences(IIPS) Mumbai, as the nodal agency for providing coordination and technical guidance for the survey.
Q2) What is the full meaning of malnutrition?
Malnutrition refers to deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients or impaired nutrient utilization. The double burden of malnutrition consists of both undernutrition and overweight and obesity, as well as diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
Source: India sees reduction in stunting; but wasting, obesity are concerns: report | ToI