På trods af stor økonomisk vækst i Indien gennem mange år er underernæring blandt børn her mere udbredt end i Afrika syd for Sahara. Omkring halvdelen af alle børn i landet er undervægtige og 45 procent er for små for deres alder.
Malnutrition is India’s silent emergency and among India’s greatest human development challenges. Although India has seen strong economic growth over the past 20 years, malnutrition in children under five years of age continues to be among the highest in the world.
Rates of malnutrition among India’s children are almost five times more than in China, and twice those in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly half of all India’s children – approximately 60 million – are underweight, about 45% are stunted (too short for their age), 20% are wasted (too thin for their height, indicating acute malnutrition), 75% are anemic (lider af blodmangel), and 57% are Vitamin A deficient.
Malnutrition affects children’s chances of survival, increases their susceptibility to illness, reduces their ability to learn, increases their chances of dropping out early from school, and makes them less productive in later life. Much of this undernourishment happens during pregnancy and in the first two years of a child’s life and, without appropriate interventions, the damage to brain development and future economic productivity is largely irreversible.
Given its impact on health, education and economic productivity, persistent under-nutrition is a major obstacle to human development, impacting India’s much-awaited demographic dividend and the country’s prospects for future economic growth.
While aggregate levels of malnutrition in India are alarmingly high, there are significant inequalities across states and socioeconomic groups with girls, rural areas, the poorest people, and scheduled tribes and castes being the worst affected. Six states – Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh – account for over half of India’s malnutrition cases, while an additional 8 to 10% of the burden is concentrated in specific areas of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Inter-generational cycle of malnutrition
Læs hele artiklen: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/05/13/helping-india-combat-persistently-high-rates-of-malnutrition
