One-Third of the World’s Stunted Children from India: Report

The 2018 Global Nutrition Report, an annual analysis on nutrition across the world, reveals that the global burden of malnutrition is unacceptably high and now affects every country in the world. In the same breath, however, it also shows that the world has never had a bigger opportunity to solve this global issue.

The report, which covered 140 countries, held malnutrition responsible for more ill health than any other cause.

The findings suggested that children under five years of age face multiple burdens.

150.8 million children are stunted, 50.5 million are wasted and 38.3 million children are overweight. Meanwhile 20 million babies are born of low birth weight each year. 

Overweight and obesity among adults are at record levels with 38.9% of adults overweight or obese, stretching from Africa to North America, and increasing among adolescents.

Moreover, women have a higher burden than men when it comes to certain forms of malnutrition: one third of all women of reproductive age have anaemia and women have a higher prevalence of obesity than men.

Millions of women are still underweight.

Major Findings

• Stunting in children under five years of age is declining at a global level but numbers in Africa are increasing, and there are significant disparities in progress at the subnational level.
• At global level, progress in addressing underweight and anaemia among women has been extremely slow while overweight and obesity among adults is getting worse, with higher rates of obesity among women than men.
• Several countries are on course to meet at least one of the globally adopted nutrition targets set for 2025, but most are off-track and none are making progress on the full suite of targets.
• Different forms of malnutrition continue to compound one another – with new analysis further confirming this reality.
• Crises around the world are increasingly protracted and significantly hamper tackling all forms of malnutrition

Shocking Stats from India

The Global Nutrition Report classifies India as experiencing two forms of malnutrition – anaemia and stunting.

Around one-third of the world’s total cases of stunting come from India. While the world has 150.8 million stunted children and 50.5 ‘wasted’(those who do not weigh enough for their height), the numbers for India are forty-six million and 25.5 million respectively.

Notably, Asia has experienced the largest reduction in stunting from 2000-2007: a fall from 38 per cent to 23 per cent.

We Are Better Equipped Than Ever

According to the report, however, the world is now more equipped than ever before to eradicate malnutrition.

We now know more than ever about what policies work, there is strong political will in many countries to cure illnesses, and the world has new and better data in order to guide governance and planning.

The report attaches strong hope to curing malnutrition by making use of these advantages and following five simple steps: develop comprehensive programmes, prioritise and invest in the data needed and capacity to use it, scale up and diversify financing for nutrition, focus on healthy diets to drive better nutrition everywhere and improve the targets and commitments that are driving actors to achieve desirable goals.