Current Affairs

Methodology To Measure Malnutrition

Ministry of Women and Child Development

azadi ka amrit mahotsav


Posted On:

01 APR 2022 5:38PM by PIB Delhi


The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is making serious efforts to address this issue. Government implements Anganwadi Services Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana and Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS) as targeted interventions for Children under 6 years, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls, throughout the country. POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in a phased manner, through a life cycle approach, by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. Further, Mission Poshan 2.0, an integrated nutrition support programme has been announced in budget 2021-2022 for all States/UTs. It seeks to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition. All these schemes address in one or other aspects related to nutrition and have the potential to improve nutritional outcomes in the country.

 

Global Hunger Index (GHI) is published by ‘Concern Worldwide & Welthungerhilfe. The GHI scores are based on the values of four component indicators, viz., Undernourishment among population, Child Wasting, Child Stunting and Child Mortality. GHI is a tool for measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and country levels. Global Hunger Index (GHI) does not reflect India’s true picture as it is a flawed measure of ‘Hunger’. It should not be taken at face value as it is neither appropriate nor representative of hunger prevalent in a country. Out of its four indicators, only one indicator, i.e., undernourishment, is directly related to hunger. The indicator “undernourishment among population” in GHI is obtained through a gallup survey, which has completely disregarded Government’s economic response to Covid-19 of providing free foodgrains to 80 Crore National Food Security Act beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna.

 

The data on nutritional indicators in the country on the other hand, is captured under the National Family Health Surveys conducted periodically by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Under the Survey, the level of malnutrition among children is assessed using the WHO standards and for adults the Body Mass Index cut-offs recommended by WHO are used to assess the prevalence of under and over nutrition. Further, NFHS also provides comprehensive information other determinants of malnutrition, viz., prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies like anaemia, food intake and infant and young child feeding and care practices including data on immunization, maternal health and nutrition, etc. The data provided by the national level survey is used to guide policies and programmes to address the nutritional challenges faced by the country.

 

The prevalence of malnourished and severely acute malnourished children in the country as per the NFHS – 4 (2015-16) and NFHS – 5 (2019-21) data is annexed.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

 

 

Annexure

Prevalence of Underweight, Stunting, Wasting & Severe wasting in children under 5 years as       per NFHS-4 & NFHS-5

S. No.

State

Stunted

(under 5 yrs)

Underweight

(under 5 yrs)

Wasting

(under 5 yrs)

Severe Wasting

(under 5 yrs)

NFHS-4

(2015-16)

NFHS-5 (2019-21)

NFHS-4

(2015-16)

NFHS-5 (2019-21)

NFHS-4

(2015-16)

NFHS-5 (2019-21)

NFHS-4

(2015-16)

NFHS-5 (2019-21)

1.

Andaman & Nicobar

23.3

22.5

21.6

23.7

18.9

16

7.5

4.8

2.

Andhra Pradesh

31.4

31.2

31.9

29.6

17.2

16.1

4.5

6.0

3.

Arunachal Pradesh

29.4

28

19.5

15.4

17.3

13.1

8.0

6.5

4.

Assam

36.4

35.3

29.8

32.8

17

21.7

6.2

9.1

5.

Bihar

48.3

42.9

43.9

41

20.8

22.9

7.0

8.8

6.

Chandigarh

28.7

25.3

24.5

20.6

10.9

8.4

3.9

2.3

7.

Chhattisgarh

37.6

34.6

37.7

31.3

23.1

18.9

8.4

7.5

8.

Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu

37.2

39.4

35.8

38.7

26.7

21.6

11.5

4.3

9.

Delhi

32.3

30.9

27

21.8

17.1

11.2

4.6

4.9

10.

Goa

20.1

25.8

23.8

24

21.9

19.1

9.5

7.5

11.

Gujarat

38.5

39

39.3

39.7

26.4

25.1

9.5

10.6

12.

Haryana

34

27.5

29.4

21.5

21.2

11.5

9.0

4.4

13.

Himachal Pradesh

26.3

30.8

21.2

25.5

13.7

17.4

3.9

6.9

14.

Jammu & Kashmir

27.4

26.9

16.6

21

12.1

19

5.6

9.7

15.

Jharkhand

45.3

39.6

47.8

39.4

29

22.4

11.4

9.1

16.

Karnataka

36.2

35.4

35.2

32.9

26.1

19.5

10.5

8.4

17.

Kerala

19.7

23.4

16.1

19.7

15.7

15.8

6.5

5.8

18.

Lakshadweep

27.0

32.0

23.4

25.8

13.8

17.4

2.9

8.7

19

Ladakh

30.9

30.5

18.7

20.4

9.3

17.5

5.1

9.1

20.

Madhya Pradesh

42.0

35.7

42.8

33.0

25.8

19.0

9.2

6.5

21.

Maharashtra

34.4

35.2

36.0

36.1

25.6

25.6

9.4

10.9

22.

Manipur

28.9

23.4

13.8

13.3

6.8

9.9

2.2

3.4

23.

Meghalaya

43.8

46.5

29.0

26.6

15.3

12.1

6.5

4.7

24.

Mizoram

28

28.9

11.9

12.7

6.1

9.8

2.3

4.9

25.

Nagaland

28.6

32.7

16.38

26.9

11.2

19.1

4.2

7.9

26.

Odisha

34.1

31.0

34.4

29.7

20.4

18.1

6.4

6.1

28.

Puducherry

23.7

20.0

22.0

15.3

23.6

12.4

7.8

3.7

29.

Punjab

25.7

24.5

21.6

16.9

15.6

10.6

5.6

3.7

30.

Rajasthan

39.1

31.8

36.7

27.6

23.0

16.8

8.6

7.6

30.

Sikkim

29.6

22.3

14.2

13.1

14.2

13.7

5.9

6.6

31.

Tamil Nadu

27.1

25.0

23.8

22.0

19.7

14.6

7.9

5.5

32.

Telangana

28.1

33.1

28.5

31.8

18.0

21.7

4.8

8.5

33.

Tripura

24.3

32.3

24.1

25.6

16.8

18.2

6.3

7.3

34.

Uttar Pradesh

46.3

39.7

39.5

32.1

17.9

17.3

6.0

7.3

35.

Uttarakhand

33.5

27.0

26.6

21.0

19.5

13.2

9.0

4.7

36.

West Bengal

32.5

33.8

31.5

32.2

20.3

20.3

6.5

7.1

 

India

38.4

35.5

35.8

32.1

21.0

19.3

7.5

7.7

*****

AS