Hungama - Fighting Hunger and Malnutrition

Despite India’s remarkable economic growth over the last decade, many children still struggle to meet their most basic needs, including access to sufficient food and health c are. According to the 2 005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), 20 per cent of Indian children under five years old were wasted (acutely malnourished) and 48 per cent w ere stunted (chronically malnourished). Importantly, with 43 per cent of children underweight (with a weight deficit of or their age) rates of child underweight in India are twice higher than the average figure in sub-Saharan Africa (22 per cent). The consequences o f these nutrition crises are enormous; in addition t o being the attributable cause o f one third to one half of child deaths, malnutrition causes stunted physical growth and cognitive development t hat last a lifetime; the economic losses associated with malnutrition are estimated at 3 per cent of India’s GDP annually.