Malnutrition delivers a telling blow to India’s growth story

Arjun of Madhya Pradesh’s (MP’s) remote Agasiya village was barely two months old in November last year when malnutrition snuffed life out of his tiny frame. One of the youngest to have been devoured by the scourge, his is a story of a starving India.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee may be aiming for a 9% GDP growth, but malnutrition is a harsh reality in large parts of the nation’s interiors.

Over 70 people, including 43 children, died in MP between October and December 2009, primarily in villages such as Madrani, Agasiya, Ochka and Parnali.

Sachin Kumar Jain, adviser to the Supreme Court (SC) commission on right to food in MP, said in the last two years, about 490 malnutrition deaths occurred in districts such as Khandwa, Satna, Rewa, Jhabua, Sheopur and Sidhi.

It’s the same story in Orissa and Uttar Pradesh (UP). Though exact figures could not be obtained, estimates show that the child mortality rate (CMR), that is the number of children per 1,000 who die before five years, in Orissa is huge, with the coastal state’s 29 districts having a minimum CMR of 66. Kandhamal (136) and Malkangiri and Gajapati (both 127) top the chart.

In UP, CMR is 58, with Kaushambi, Bhadohi, Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Allahabad and Varanasi districts being the worst-affected.

Statistics also suggest that while 40% of children below five are malnourished in Orissa, a whopping 60% fall in the bracket in MP.
Dipa Sinha, adviser to the SC commission on right to food, said malnutrition was unacceptably high in India, especially in MP, Orissa and UP.

“Interventions to address the issue must focus on children under two who usually slip through the cracks in growth-monitoring and supplementary nutrition programmes,” she said.

National family health survey (NFHS-3) states that the nation’s 80 million children under six suffer from malnourishment, which is characterised by bloated stomachs, stunted growth and fading hair colour.

Ajay Khare, convener, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Madhya Pradesh, said on an average, a one-year-old child weighed 10 kg and gained 2 kg per year. “When the weight is less than 80% of the average, a child is considered malnourished requiring more proteins, carbohydrates, iron, vitamin B, calcium, etc,” he said.

Obstetrician and gynaecologist Sashimani Panda, founder of Orissa Institute of Medical Research and Health Services, said factors such as lack of essential newborn care, poor access to health services, lack of nutrition and iron supplements were the prime causes of malnourishment. “Poor sanitation, low hygiene, lack of good drinking water, etc, precipitate the problem,” he said.