Introduction
In September 2019, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) released the first-ever Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey, 2016–18, conducted in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The survey was conducted in order to collect a comprehensive set of data on the nutritional status of Indian children, aged 0–19 years. The survey used global standard methods to examine anaemia, micronutrient deficiencies, and biomarkers of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Key Findings of the Report
The findings of the survey indicate the gap between much-eulogised Indian growth story and the low state of nutrition and health of adolescents as well as children. Not only that, but the findings of the survey also corroborate the results of the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) 3 and 4 regarding data on nutrition status. Far bigger than the NFHS, it covers pre-school children, school-going children, and adolescents geographically, socially, and economically. The findings are as follows:
(i) About 10 per cent children, aged 5–9 years, and adolescents, aged 10–19 years, are pre-diabetic.
(ii) Tamil Nadu and Goa had the highest number of adolescents, aged 10–19 years, who were either overweight or obese.
(iii) About 4 per cent of adolescents are suffering from high cholesterol.
(iv) The risk of chronic kidney disease is prevalent among 7 per cent of children and adolescents.
(v) The problem of high blood pressure was found with 5 per cent of adolescents.
(vi) Among school-going children, evidence of the co-existence of obesity and undernutrition was recorded for the first time.
(vii) Chronic malnutrition or stunting of children (40 per cent), under five years of age, declined only by one-third between 1992 and 2016.
(viii) More than half of the women in the reproductive age were found anaemic. More than 60 per cent of all anaemia cases were owing to poor nutrition and iron deficiency.
(ix) Shifting patterns of diet and lifestyle leading to obesity, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are highlighted.
Measures were taken by Government
To solve the problem, the government has taken the following measures:
(i) Sixty thousand rupees have been transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women for better facilities of delivery under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.
(ii) The government launched POSHAN in 2017–18 to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight babies.
(iii) The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 intends to ensure food and nutrition security for the most vulnerable through its associated schemes and programmes.
(iv) Similarly, the government launched the mid-day meal scheme to improve nutritional values among schoolchildren.
Conclusion
Hopefully, the survey will yield better results and boost the efforts made to remove malnutrition, anaemia, and micro-nutrient deficiencies, such as Vitamin A, iodine, zinc, folate, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D. It will inform the government of India’s POSHAN Abhiyaan, and help reorient programmes aimed at curbing malnutrition in children as well as adolescents. It will also serve as an important national baseline to examine the progress of the recently launched programmes and schemes.
Malnutrition means deficiencies of a person’s intake of energy or other nutrients either in excess or in an unbalanced way. It covers two broad groups of conditions, namely, undernutrition and obesity. Undernutrition includes stunting (low weight for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age), and micronutrient deficiencies (lack of important vitamins and minerals). Obesity, on the other hand, includes overweight and diet-related non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart problems, etc.
Anaemia is low erythrocyte or haemoglobin concentration, which is generally caused by blood loss, haemorrhage, haemolysis, inadequate erythropoiesis. As per NFHS-4, its prevalence in different groups is as follows:
Children 6–59 months–58 per cent; adolescent girls aged 15–19 years–54 per cent; adolescent boys aged 15–19 years –29 per cent; women of reproductive age–53 per cent; pregnant women–50 per cent; and lactating women–58 per cent.
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