An integrated approach to nutrition that focuses on health, wellness, immunity and fights malnutrition in the country is the need of the hour

Nutrition and health is an essential part of modern life. However, holistic nutrition is India's flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes, especially for malnourished children, women and the elderly. In the first category, the economically disadvantaged population is more vulnerable to malnutrition. Maintaining a healthy balance to prevent malnutrition has become more challenging for the underprivileged.

The second category is well-to-do people who have excesses or imbalances in intake of nutrients that have been rampant across all age groups in India. Due to a lack of knowledge, excess or unbalanced nutrition leads to metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases. The double burden of malnutrition has turned India's attention to nutritional development as a national priority. Personalized, targeted or stratified nutrition for healthcare and well-being is the need of the hour.

In recent years, India has started to gain self-sufficiency in crop production and growing steadily. Despite progress, malnutrition in the country has not diminished. The 2020 National Family Health Survey shows that child malnutrition is on the rise and the situation is alarming. According to the National Comprehensive Nutrition Survey conducted by UNICEF in 2019, nearly 50% of children under the age group of five were short in height.

According to the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21, health and nutrition have not improved significantly in India, the world's most populous country. Available data show that 7.7% of children were severely underweight, 19.3% were wasted and 35.5% were stunted. Meanwhile, 3.4 % of children were overweight. Anaemia among children under-5 has become significantly worse with the current prevalence as 67.1% compared to 58.6% according to the NFHS-4th series and 57% of women of reproductive age are anaemic in the country.

Dietetics and nutrition have attracted attention, especially in India in recent years. Due to the rise of lifestyle-related diseases, there is a growing awareness of the importance of proper nutrition and health. To stay away from these diseases, healthy eating habits have become the norm. This has resulted in a surge in demand for the services of nutritionists and dietitians.

Nutrition-conscious Indians don’t have enough nutritionists to consult for a healthy diet. A comprehensive study on the shortage of nutritionists and dieticians conducted by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and submitted to the Union health ministry says that there is a shortage of nearly 5.5 lakh professional nutritionists in India. The International Federation of Dietetic Societies says there is one dietitian for every 2 lakh people in India. This is comparable to 35 to 40 nutritionists per one lakh people in Denmark and Israel, and 66 per one lakh people in Japan.

Dietitians and nutritionists play an important role in promoting health and preventing malnutrition or lifestyle-related diseases. Nutritionists apply nutrition and health systems to individuals, communities and organizations to change the pattern of food, lifestyle and behaviour to meet needs for well-being.

Social media and cross-border, digital or e-commerce are developing some of their strengths as they impact the next generation of consumers. But the personalized nutrition can help prolong health and reduce the healthcare costs associated with ageing. The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has published nutritional guidelines, but few people know what their recommendations are. Experts say that nutritionists did not receive enough attention until a decade ago, but now their presence is crucial.

In addition to India's government programs and campaigns such as "Poshan" to reduce malnutrition among the poor, the world is making the personalised nutrition service industry worth an estimated $15 billion by 2023 and is expected to reach $37.3 billion by 2030. India’s share should be at least 4 per cent about $1.48 billion or Rs 12,150 crore.

The future of dietitians and nutritionists in India is changing with many careers in dietetics and nutrition in the public and private sectors. India has the largest workforce in the 18-24 age group requiring a range of skills such as proven expertise, knowledge of food and food products to deal with chronic diseases.

A qualified, experienced and certified crew of nutritionists is needed to nurture nutrition as holistic at hospitals, dispensaries and gyms, personalised or corporate wellness. In the private sector as clinical nutritionist who works in health clinics, wellness centres, and food and nutrition-related industries are booming. In the public sector, general well-being nutritionists and dietitians can work in government hospitals, health departments, and research institutes. Sports nutritionist manages explicit sustenance necessities and rules of sports players, which are needed for sports preparation, exercise centres and wellness centres.

As a nutritionist serving the wider community, there are some obvious reasons to serve, and there are also some key reasons why the area is gaining so much attention. To develop the necessary financial, social and technical tools to manage the dietary and nutrition problems facing the country.

The government is trying to create more programs to educate people about the importance of health. Judging by all the ideas provided by the government, the field of nutrition does not seem far from being one of the most important fields in India.

It is essential to establish the legal framework for the realization of the concept of personal nutrition. We need quality health and nutrition services, skilled frontline workers, and the ability to improve exercise, outreach and delivery. The lack of professional nutritionists and dietitians in government hospitals and dispensaries is disappointing and needs improvement in the quality of food for all citizens, especially children, women and the elderly.

The overall aim is to use a strategic, integrated approach to promote nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcome, with a renewed focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity towards various diseases and malnutrition in the country. The goal is to have a collaborative effort to improve the health and nutrition index.

(The writer is co-founder and MD, of Orane International, a training partner with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a Network Member, of India International Skills Centre)