Prof. Om Raj Katoch
Although India has made tremendous advances in science, medicine, information technology and many other fields, and has experienced unprecedented economic growth over the past decade, but undernutrition has remained the world’s most serious health problem which is a major contributor to child mortality. Nearly 150 million of the children in developing countries are undernourished (Uma Iyer et. al, 2011). Our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh while commenting on the findings of a survey said it’s a national shame that despite impressive growth in India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in recent years, the level of under-nutrition is unacceptably high (42 of the children under five are severely or moderately undernourished) – contributing to India’s poor rank of 128 among 177 countries on the Human Development Index in 2007. The lack of progress over the past decade and the current high levels of undernutrition have led to India being recognized as having, perhaps, the worst undernutrition problem in the world.
The data in India reveal an unacceptable prevalence of undernutrition in our children:
* 42.5 per cent of our children under the age of five years are underweight (low weight for age)
* 48 per cent of our children are stunted (low height for age)
* 19.8 per cent of our children are wasted (low weight for height)
* In poorer states the situation is even worse with over 50 per cent of children underweight
Undernutrion is a process whose effects are extended not only in later life, but also generations to generations. These in turn results into: 1) low productivity 2) slows economic growth and 3) results into poverty. In this way the economic cost of undernutrition is very high. The high levels of undernutrion in children pose a major challenge for child health and development. Besides poverty, there are other factors that directly and indirectly create the situation of undernutrition. Some studies showed that material education is a key factor to undernutrition.
The school age is age of growing, but unfortunately the undernutrition affects that age severely. Improved health and nutritional status among children contributes positively in school going children by way of 1) high enrolments 2) better school attendance 3) lower rates of dropout 4) improved performance in academic work and 5) higher economic growth as healthy persons have the energy to work. I think we all agree that one has to be physically fit to engage in any productive work and it is easy to appreciate why children need to be well fed not only to grow but also to concentrate on learning while at school.
All we need to address the problem of undernutrition immediately:
* A number of interventions are likely to promote the health and nutritional status of our school children. Most important of which is a national policy on health and nutrition education. Thus the current national nutrition policy needs to be integrated much more with educational programs. Such a policy should be clear on the objectives of health and nutrition program and their bearing on education. There is a great need to the attention of the policy-makers on the nutritional status of the children as one of the main indicators of development and as a precondition for the socioeconomic advancement of the societies in the long-term.
* The prevalence of child undernutrition in schools can be reduced by increasing awareness in mother regarding the nutritional intake of the child.
* There is a dire need to expand and improve nutrition education and awareness as well as involvement and accountability for improved nutrition at the community level. It needs to be expanded following consultations with key stakeholders. Under such curricula, nutrition and health education should be a teaching and examinable subject.
* All schools must have adequate and clean toilets, safe and clean drinking water and environmental sanitary facilities for girls and must keep their compounds clean.
The removal of undernutrition in school going children in India requires a combination of heath initiatives, nutrition intervention such as awareness in mothers regarding nutritional intake, expansion of nutritional education and the creation of extra income, particularly, for those whose families are hungry because they have no work experiences to break the vicious circle of chromic undernutrition.
(The author is Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Govt. Degree College Ramban (J&K)
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