I am moved by the report on malnutrition in India. I thought will bring some insights into this subject. Interesting finding is that relatively small number of states, districts, and villages account for a large share of the burden – 5 states and 50 percent of villages account for about 80% of the malnutrition cases.
According to World Bank - The prevalence of child undernutrition in India is among the highest in the world; nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa, with dire consequences for morbidity, mortality, productivity and economic growth.
The existing response to malnutrition in India has been skewed towards food-based interventions and has placed little emphasis on schemes addressing the other determinants of malnutrition.
India’s main early child development intervention, the Integrated Child Development Services program (ICDS), scheme was launched in 1975 with the following objectives of improving the nutritional and health status of children in the age-group 0-6 years. However, it has not yet succeeded in making a significant dent in child malnutrition.
This is mostly due to the priority that the program has placed on food supplementation rather than on nutrition and health education interventions, and because of the fact that the program targets children mostly after the age of three when malnutrition has already set in.
ICDS program appears to be well-designed and well-placed to address the multidimensional causes of malnutrition in India. However, there are several mismatches between the program’s design and its actual implementation that prevent it from reaching its potential.
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/undernourished_executive_summary.pdf
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