51 pc Indian woman anaemic, 38 pc kids under 5 stunted

51 pc Indian woman anaemic, 38 pc kids under 5 stunted

Context:

Highlighting India’s serious burden of undernutrition, a global report released recently  said that more than half of the women of reproductive age in the country suffer from anaemia.

Introduction:

• The recently released family health survey (NFHS 4) results show that over 58% of children below five years of age are anaemic.
• Findings of the new Global Nutrition Report 2017 place India at the bottom of the table.
• China, Pakistan, Nigeria and Indonesia occupy the following places in the list
• In India, more than half (51%) of all women of reproductive age have anaemia, whereas more than one in five (22%) of adult women are overweight.
• However, in 2016, the report showed that nearly 48% of women in India were anaemic.

Highlights of the survey:

• The total number of children under five in India in 2015 is projected at 12.4 crore.
• Around 7.2 crore children are anaemic, nearly 5 crore are stunted, around 2.6 crore are wasted and 4.4 crore are underweight.
• The survey also found that just over half of all pregnant women were anaemic.
• Patients suffer from insufficient haemoglobin in the blood, leaving them exhausted, vulnerable to infections, and possibly affecting their brain development.
• The survey, which was carried out in 2015-16 also showed that around 38% of children in the same age group were stunted, 21% were wasted and 36% underweight.
• Based on the 2011 Census data, the total number of children under five in India in 2015 is projected at 12.4 crore. So, around 7.2 crore children are anaemic, nearly 5 crore are stunted, around 2.6 crore are wasted and 4.4 crore are underweight.
• The World Health Organisation says high levels of these markers are clear indications of “poor socioeconomic conditions” and “suboptimal health and/or nutritional conditions”. In short, lack of food, unhealthy living conditions and poor health delivery systems.
• The WHO defines wasting as low weight for height, stunting as low height for age, and underweight as low weight for age
• The survey also found that just over half of all pregnant women were anaemic. This would automatically translate into their newborn being weak. Overall, 53% of women and 23% of men in the 15-49 age group were anaemic.
• In India, latest figures show that 38% of children under five are affected by stunting – children too short for their age due to lack of nutrients, suffering irreversible damage to brain capacity – and about 21% of kids under five are defined as ‘wasted’ or ‘severely wasted’ – meaning they do not weigh enough for their height
• The global data also revealed that more than 22% percent of adult women are overweight, a rising concern as women are disproportionately affected by the global obesity epidemic. About 16% of adult Indian men are overweight.

Childhood stunting in India:

• The report that looked at 140 countries also found ‘significant burden’ of childhood stunting in India
• Stunting refers to the condition when children are too short for their age due to lack of nutrients and suffer irreversible damage to brain capacity.
• In India, 38 per cent of children under five are affected by stunting.
• About 21 per cent of children under 5 have been categorised as ‘wasted’ or ‘severely wasted’ — meaning they do not weigh enough for their height. These figures are at par with the National Family Health Survey 4 data.

Causes of child stunting:

• Poor sanitation spreads diseases that sap children energy and stunts their growth.
• Poor health of a child’s mother and Women’s undernourishment.
• Poverty also plays a key role
• Non-exclusive breast feeding
• Reduced appetite due to infection

Causes of malnutrition:

• India is facing a serious problem of malnutrition, according to the Global Nutrition Report 2017.

Causes:

• Widespread discrimination against women in their homes leads to low food intake.
• The causes for malnutrition are various and are multidimensional. To sum up, they include
• illiteracy specially in women
• Poor access to health services
• Lack of availability of safe drinking water
• Poor sanitation and environmental conditions and low purchasing power etc.
• Early marriages of girl
• Teenage pregnancies resulting in low birth weight of the newborns
• Poor breastfeeding practice
• Poor complementary feeding practices
• Ignorance about nutritional needs of infants and young children and repeated infections further aggravate the situation.
• Number of other factors such as environmental, geographical, agricultural, and cultural including various other factors have contributive effects resulting in malnutrition.
• Therefore it is widely recognized that a multi sectoral approach is necessary to tackle the problem of malnutrition.

State wise picture:

• There is wide variation among states.
• Poorer states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have higher than national average rates on all markers.
• More advanced states like those in the south, Haryana and Gujarat have slightly better numbers but are still at unacceptable levels.
• In Tamil Nadu, 51% children are anaemic while in Kerala it is over one-third.
• In many states, stunting has declined but the share of severely wasted children has increased.
• For undernutrition, especially, major efforts are needed to close the inequality gap.
• The report also found that 88% of countries studied face a serious burden of two or three forms of malnutrition. It highlights the damaging impact this burden is having on broader global development efforts.
• The report found that overweight and obesity are on the rise in almost every country, with two billion of the world’s seven billion people now overweight or obese, and a less than one percent chance of meeting the global target of halting the rise in obesity and diabetes by 2025.
• The Global Nutrition Report 2017 calls for nutrition to be placed at the heart of efforts to end poverty, fight disease, raise educational standards and tackle climate change.

Indicators:

• The global report, which looked at 140 countries including India, found ‘significant burdens’ of three important forms of malnutrition used as an indicator of broader trends. These include childhood stunting, anaemia in women of reproductive age, and overweight adult women.

About Anemia:

• Anemia is a decrease in the total amount of red blood cells(RBCs) or hemoglobin in the blood, or a lowered  ability of the blood to carry oxygen.

Symptoms:

• When anemia comes on slowly, the symptoms include feeling tired, weakness, shortness of breath or a poor ability to exercise.
• Anemia that comes on quickly often has greater symptoms, which may include confusion, feeling like one is going to pass out, loss of consciousness, or increase thirst.