NITI Aayog, the premier think tank of the Government, has asked the Union ministries of Agriculture and health why the increase in per capita food availability by 50 per cent between 2004-05 and 2020-21 has not been reflected in the nutrition and health outcomes, especially in the case of child and woman which has remained low.
It has called for a country-wide survey to ascertain the true status of health and nutrition, as well as the role of food availability, food distribution, awareness about nutrition, eating habits and preferences, hygiene, and food diversity in determining nutrition intake and health outcomes.
“The fact that the percentage of women who are overweight doubled between 2005-06 and 2020-21 raises serious questions about the low availability of food as the reason for undernutrition and anaemia,” says the working paper authored by NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand and consultant Jaspal Singh.
Citing the data from the National Family Health Survey 6, the document “From Green Revolution to Amrit Kaal: Lessons and Way Forward for Indian Agriculture,” notes that the incidence of stunted and underweight children as well as the prevalence of anaemia among children and women remains high.
Malnutrition in children can manifest as ‘stunting’ (low height in relation to age) or ‘wasting’ (low weight in relation to height) or both and underweight or obesity among women. Other nutritional indicators show that India lags behind, with high levels of anaemia in women of reproductive age. These are the most serious health risks in India, accounting for 15% of the country’s total disease burden. The NITI Aayog document has now urged the Union ministries of Agriculture and Health to ‘reconcile’ this contradiction between high growth in food availability and slow improvement in nutrition and health indicators.
There is a need for a country-wide survey to ascertain the true status of health and nutrition, as well as the role of food availability, food distribution, awareness about nutrition, eating habits and preferences, hygiene, and food diversity in determining nutrition intake and health outcomes.
It emphasizes that as the country has moved from a situation of food shortages to that of food surplus and focus of production should be on nutritive and healthy food.
At the same time, it points out that India has achieved a very high increase in per capita net intake of all types of foods, except cereals, which include fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, meat, and fish after 2005-06.
The report recommends the bio-fortification of major foods and increased dietary diversity. “The promotion of millets and green and leafy vegetables is very important in order to improve the nutrition and health of all age groups,” it says.
For India to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as well as economic and social reforms, it is essential to empower and safeguard the 67.7 percent of women and children in the country by ensuring their healthy development in a safe and secure environment, as per health activists.