Public Health Issue/India

CHILD AND MATERNAL NUTRITION IN INDIA

The PNADM627 report states:

“Malnutrition in India has been called ‘The Silent Emergency’.  The proportion of under-nutrition among children and women in India is one of the highest in the world.  India is committed to halving the prevalence of underweight children by 2015 as indicators of progress towards the Millennium Development Goal.”

Statistics from the National fact sheet provided by the International Institute for Population Sciences (September, 2007), shows that, malnutrition is the major underlying cause of 50% of deaths among children. 8.3 million Babies are born low birth weight. Nearly 46% of children under 3 years of age are underweight. 25.5 million or 1 in 3 children, under 3 years of age are stunted 9low height for age) as a result of poor nutrition. 13 million, or 1 in 5, children below three years of age are wasted (low weight for height). Only 1 in 5 children 6 to 23 months of age receive the recommended appropriate feeding.

WHAT WORKS FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS IN INDIA

According to the information provided by the support of the American people through the USAID what works for India include

• Effective programs for infants and early feeding practices.
• Breast feeding within the first hour of life.
• Complementary feeding with or without provisions of food supplements.
• General supportive strategies for improving family and community nutrition and reducing disease burden.

WHAT MORE IS NEEDED?

• Political commitment
• Significant increase in resources
• Targeting children less than 2 years of age for improved quality, quantity, and frequency of infant and young child feeding.
• A better understanding of the direct and indirect causes of malnutrition.

National Family Health Survey (NFHS 3) (2005 – 2006), India: Volume 1, and National            

Fact Sheet, International institute for population sciences, Mumbai.

Retrieved January 12, 2011, from http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADM627.pdf