More than one-third of the world’s malnourished children live in India. As per the National Family Health Survey (NHFS-3), in Odisha, 39.5 per cent of children under the age of three years are underweight while 43.9 per cent are stunted or too short for their age. Similarly, 23.7 per cent are wasted or measured low weight for height of the children. Mortality among under-five children is a result of infectious diseases and neonatal deaths. And, under-nutrition is an important factor contributing to the death of young children.
“If a child is malnourished, the mortality risk associated with respiratory infections, diarrhoea, malaria, measles, and other infectious diseases is increased,” revealed experts at a State-level dissemination meeting on release of new ‘Action Agenda for Nutrition Security in India’, developed by the task force of the Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security in India, here on Tuesday. The event was organised by the NGO Save the Children.
The recommendations of the Action Agenda are based on a review of the current evidence and approaches to achieve nutrition security.
The speakers opined that malnutrition is a complex and multi-dimensional issue, affected by poverty, inadequate food consumption, inequitable food distribution, improper infant and child feeding and care practices, etc.
Thus, an enabling environment for accelerating and improving essential nutrition actions equitably includes ensuring food and nutrition security, improving access to potable water and sanitation services, improving access to health services, ensuring universal access, retention and completion of secondary education with special focus on girls from vulnerable groups, they added.
Among others, MlA Bijay Mohanty, senior nutritional advisor Dr laxmikant Palo and Dr Soumyakant Mishra from the Save the Children were present