More than one fifth, approximately 21%, of India’s children are underweight. However, in the 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI), the rank has slipped three places to hundredth (100) from ninety seventh (97) as compared to last years.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) released the Global Hunger Index of 2017, and seeing the statistics, it pointed out “HUNGER” as a serious problem.
In comparison to all its neighboring countries, India ranked the lowest. The ranks of the countries are: China (29), Sri Lanka (84), Bangladesh (88), Myanmar (77), and Nepal (72). Pakistan on the other hand is at 106 position on the Global Hunger List.
Iraq and North Korea are also better ranked in the Global Hunger Index than India, the reports revealed.
Countries are given this rank on the basis of child stunting, child morality, child wasting and undernourishment.
A high GDP growth rate alone is not the deciding factor of food and nutrition security for India’s vast population, seeing the Global Hunger Index of India, which is a serious concern for the country.
By 2030, if we want to meet SDG 2 of Zero Hunger, inequality in all forms has to be addressed right now, India director for Weltehungerhilfe Nivedita Varshneya stated. Weltehungerhilfe is a humanitarian German agency collaborated with IFPRI for measuring hunger rate.
India has seen a fall from 55th rank to 45 rank in the last three years, as per the Hunger Report Index.
In India, large numbers of poor in India are at risk of malnourishment due to drought and structural deficiencies, despite so many nutrition-focused awareness program initiated by the government, IFPRI South Asia director, and agricultural economist Pramod Kumar Joshi said in a news letter.
The IFPRI identified that there are only three countries, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Djibouti that portray child malnutrition is higher than 20%, whereas in India, 9.6% of children between 6 months to 23 months receive adequate diet.
India’s gains on child mortality, child stunting and undernourishment have also been cited in the Index.
In the Indian children, one in five (21%) are undernourished, one in three (38.4%) are stunted, and one in three (35.7%) are underweight according to National Family Health Survey of 2015–2016.
With ‘tremendously alarming’ hunger rate and with 58% of the population living in a state of undernourishment, globally the Central African Republic is ranked as the sole country with this kind of statistics.
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