Malnutrition in India

In many parts of India, the birth of a girl child is not welcomed. Right from her arrival, she faces discrimination, humiliation, and oppression at every stage of life. When it comes to healthcare, education and growth opportunities, she is neglected because of her gender. Some manage to survive and foster new paths to follow. Most, however, surrender hopelessly to the sad fate assigned to them.

In a country rife with gender inequalities and an underlying nature of patriarchy, girl children often find themselves at the short end of the stick. Discrimination against girls is rampant and due to the fear of abuse and exploitation, they are kept at home and not sent to school. Child marriage is yet another glaring issue due to which girls are forced to give up going to school at an early age.

India has the maximum number of malnourished children in the world – 1 in every 2 children are malnourished. The situation is extremely critical because the effects of malnourishment are irreversible if they occur at a young age. If not death, it leads to permanent disabilities that render the children ill for the rest of their lives.

Malnutrition in India has become a situation that haunts the lives of millions of children. Among the 472 million children (2011 census), a whopping 97 million are anaemic and undernourished. For children five years or younger, close to 40% (actually 38.7%) are stunted (below normal height for the age), 19.8% are wasted (underweight and short) and 42.4% are underweight. The data-set revealed by the latest NFHS-4, states that nine out of the 11 states surveyed have not been able to reduce the rate of Infant Mortality even by 2 points annually. And that, 40 out of 1000 infants don’t get to celebrate their first birthday.

While Malnutrition and Infant Mortality Rates remain high, the budget allocated for minors, constituting 40% of India’s population remains at a meagre 4%. For example, in the village of Damodar Mohuli in Bihar, the only anganwadi in the village has been non-functional for the past 6 months. The anganwadi worker has not received her salary for this time period, and doesn’t open the centre due to lack of food and medicines. The children are suffering as a result.

A sound foundation is critical for the overall development of a human being. In fact, 90% development of the brain occurs within 5-6 years of age. Thus, to ensure a right start to life, early childhood care and learning is exceedingly important. The Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) is one of the largest public service schemes in India catering to the need of children below the age of 6 years. This scheme, implemented from 1,974 onwards, has the potential to have the most comprehensive coverage.

Sarji Foundation realises this issue and works at the grassroots level with its partner organisations to ensure that communities become aware about malnutrition and informed about the situation of children and act towards bringing a positive change.