Today, a large proportion of our population is affected by malnutrition, in which the biggest share is of children and women. This is the primary reason for their diseases and untimely demise. Hunger is the underlying cause of most of the disorders in children and women. Anemia and goiter in women and diseases like rickets, night blindness and even complete loss of vision occur in children due to improper nutrition.
Malnutrition is the state in which the required balanced diet is not provided to the body for an extended period. This decreases the immunity, due to which the body quickly falls prey to diseases. According to the United Nations’, over one million children below the age of five die every year in India due to malnutrition. Along with reporting the death toll of children due to the non-availability of food, it also highlights the wastage of food in our country.The position of India in South Asia regarding the incidents of malnutrition is one of the weakest even today. The surveys conducted in the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have found that in the most poverty-stricken regions of the country, children are dying with hunger even today. The report also states that if proper attention could be paid to this issue and corrective measures are taken, these deaths can be stopped. Fight Hunger Foundation and ACF India have jointly launched a campaign in India titled ‘Generation nutrition program’. The report of ACF states that in the entire South Asia malnutrition is not as big a problem in any other country as it is in India. According to the report, 28% of the Scheduled Tribes, 21% of Scheduled Castes, 20% of Other Backward Classes, and 21% of the village community are forced to suffer the hazards of under-nourishment.
In the present time, malnutrition has become a cause of concern, even for the international community. This issue is so big that the World Bank has compared it to the epidemic, ‘Black Death,’ which led to the destruction of large proportion of European population.Generally, malnutrition is considered a medical issue, and most of us think that it is a subject of medicine. But it is a consequence of numerous socio-political issues. Our country does not suffer from a scarcity of food grains. The record stock of food grains is increasing year by year rapidly. But, a large proportion of food is being wasted simultaneously. The cereals produced in a year could not be stored properly due to the absence of proper storage facilities; neither does it reach the public easily. Most of the stored food either gets rotten and spoiled or is destroyed by the pests. Moreover, rotten food grains are sold out to alcohol manufacturing companies at throwaway prices. They are seldom used for satisfying the hunger of the masses.
Excessive hoarding of food grains leads to their scarcity in the market, and this increases food inflation, and thus, people could not buy them easily. The greatest ill-effect of inflation are borne by the people of lower and middle economic groups. Everyone experiences hunger, but the poor are helpless and often are not able to quench it easily. Do those who live in temporary houses, dwell in the roadside shelters and the children, elderly and others begging on the street get proper nutrition in their food? Definitely not. Such people are somehow able to have their meals and sustain their life.
What is the rate of malnutrition in our country? In order to get an estimate of this number one can analyze the data of the ratio of the height to the weight of the children. Today, over 21% of the children in our country are undernourished. In the entire world there are only three countries- Djibouti, Sri Lanka, and South Sudan, where over 20% of the children are malnourished. When 21% children of any country are suffering from malnutrition, then on what basis can a great economic future be predicted for it? This is a subject to ponder upon.This issue is even more severe because, according to the report of National Nutrition Surveillance Bureau, the present standard of food in rural India is much lower than that which existed about forty years back. According to the report, today, the average daily intake of nutrients by an Indian rural person has reduced by 500 calories of grains, 15 grams of protein, 5-milligram iron, 250 mg calcium, and about 500 mg vitamin A as compared to the year 1975- 1979. This is the same India where about 70% of the population dwells in villages. If the amount of food items has decreased over time and people are suffering from malnutrition, then this can be a grave danger for our country.
The main meal of small children is milk. But due to the ever-increasing cost of milk, children are not getting it in the requisite quantities. According to the statistics, children below three years of age, on average, get only 80 ml of milk per day, while their requirement is 300 ml.Eradication of malnutrition is a gigantic task, but if the people of the country contribute to this cause it would no longer be a difficult task. The most important requirement in this context is of the peasants because the war against poverty, hunger and malnutrition could not be won until and unless proper attention is given to agriculture.
According to a recent study conducted in America, it has been revealed that the investment made in agriculture proves to be five times more effective in eradicating poverty than that which is invested in cities on building infrastructure. If we really want to put an end to hunger and malnutrition in our country by the year 2022, then we have to increase the investment in agriculture and encourage farming, while also making proper arrangements for taking the field- produce to the people.
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one. – Mother Teresa”“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity; it is an act of justice. – Nelson Mandela”
Source: Akhand Jyoti Magazine Oct-Nov 2019