India’s hunger index is very high. There are 189.2 million undernourished people in India. This means about 14% of the population is undernourished. About 51.4% of women are anaemic between the age of 15 and 49.
According to the SOFI report of July 6, about 56 crore people, which is about 40.6% of the population, suffered from moderate or severe food insecurity in 2019-21. In 2018-20, about 20.3% of the population suffered from food insecurity. This number rose to 22.3% in 2019-21. About 37% of the world population with food insecurity lives in India.
Children are much affected by food security concerns. About 34.7% of children below the age of 5 have stunted growth. 20% of them show signs of wasting, which is understood as the long-term impact of delay in proper nutrition which affects cognitive development, reduced intellectual functions and poor school performance.
Causes of Malnutrition
Malnutrition arises from several factors. These include :
- illness and disease brought on by inadequate nutrition for mothers and children.
- Altering one’s eating habits and exercise routines.
- Overweight and obesity.
- absence of breastfeeding.
- Vitamin and mineral deficiencies, including those in vitamin A, zinc, iron, and calcium.
- inadequate access to healthcare facilities and qualified medical personnel.
- Additionally, a lot of baby deaths were brought on by bad transportation facilities.
In addition, the majority of child deaths are caused by inadequate antenatal care, inadequate health facilities, and doctors who are undertrained in emergency and essential maternal, obstetric, and newborn care.In rural regions, it is difficult to find supplies of iron, folic acid, and injection iron succinate IV, which is used to treat and control severe anaemia in pregnant women. Lack of medical supplies is a major factor.
What should you do?
Help and support Fikrah in their campaign for providing food to the hungry. Donate to us and we will make sure the money and food goes to the right place – the undernourished and hungry people of the country.