Stunting Rate In India Decreases To 31.7% In 2022: Report
The world-leading agencies like World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have released a joint malnutrition report that claimed India has made significant progress in fighting malnutrition among children.
The report said that compared to 2012, there is a huge decline in stunting among children in India. The rate of stunting declined from 41.6 per cent to 31.7 per cent. In the global space, India’s stunting rate fell from 30 to 25 per cent.
The government of India has been striving hard to discard malnutrition in the country through policies like mid-day-meal which was an attempt to fill up the school dropouts along with fulfilling their nutritional requirements. The central government under the leadership of Narendra Modi announced every September ‘Rashtriya Poshan Maah’ to campaign for ways to eradicate malnutrition in the country.
Among all the sustainable development goals (SDGs), United Nations has also aimed to achieve zero hunger in the world by 2030. India with a heavy population is contributing a major burden in the global space on various socio-economic issues, in which hunger is the top one. However, globally, there has been a dip in stunting prevalence from 26.3 per cent in 2012 to 22.3 per cent in 2022.
Apart from stunting, the report also highlights the rates of obesity and wasting. According to the report, obesity has increased to 2.8 per cent in 2022 compared to 2.2 per cent in 2012. In short, the JME report marks obesity and waste as still prevalent issues that need attention and addressing.
As malnutrition, obesity and wasting are socio-economic issues, government authorities are ahead with the plans and policies. But in terms of society, it still needs concern. Dealing with such a large population, every citizen of the country ought to contribute to feed at least a few people around them.
