More than two-thirds of Indian districts in north and central India have high to very high levels of stunting.
What is stunting?
Stunting is a complex problem which is related to the low height of the children with respective to their age.
Stunting prevalence (percentage of under-5 children who have a low height for their age) is an important indicator of the nutritional status of children.
The factors which believed to implicate stunting are prenatal health, breastfeeding and diet.
Children in richer South Asian countries are shorter on average than those in poorer Sub-Saharan African countries.
Much of the height variation among those regions could be explained by various socio-economic factors.
What is recent findings on stunting in India?
A study on stunting was conducted by the Washington-based agri think tank International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
According to the study more than two-thirds of India’s 640 districts, mainly in north and central India, have high to very high levels of stunting
The study has analysed and spatially mapped data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 2015-16) on India’s high childhood stunting prevalence of 38.4%.
A third of the global population of stunted pre-schoolers are in India.
It concluded that very high-stunting districts could eliminate 71% of the gap with low-stunting districts if they are able to improve on specific issues of gender and inequality.
These include differences in women’s low body mass index ,women’s education, children’s adequate diet, assets, open defecation, age at marriage, antenatal care, and household size.
What measures needs to be taken?
The study shows that only focusing on health- and nutrition-related factors under the existing Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) isn’t enough.
There is need to address gender-related inequalities at the district level so as to reduce stunting.
Factors concerning women across their life cycles, such as their education, nutrition, age at marriage, care during and after pregnancy, play a significant role, as do the overall socio-economic status of the household need be addressed.
Recently Union government has also launched National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan) with a district-level focus to reduce stunting.
