ANSWER
MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) As per Global Hunger lndex Report 2020 prepared by “Welthungerhilfe” and “Concern Worldwide” India’s score was 27.2 and it has ranked 94th among the 107 countries.
Global Hunger Index (GHI) does not reflect India’s true picture as it is a flawed measure of “Hunger”. It should not be taken at face value as it is neither appropriate nor representative of hunger prevalent in a country. Out of its four components, only one component i.e, undernourishment is directly related to hunger. The two indicators, namely; Stunting and Wasting are outcomes of complex interactions of various other factors like sanitation, genetics, environment, and utilisation of food intake apart from hunger which is taken as the causative/outcome factor for stunting and wasting in the GHI. Also, there is hardly any evidence that the fourth indicator, namely, child mortality is an outcome of hunger. Data used in the GHI report are sourced from international agencies which are not updated as per the latest data available in the country.
(b) The data on nutritional indicators is captured under the National Family Health Surveys conducted periodically by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. As per the report released by the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16), 35.7% children under 5 years of age are underweight and 38.4% are stunted indicating a reduction from the previous data captured in NFHS – 3, 2005-06, which reported 42.5% children under 5 years of age as underweight and 48% stunted. Moreover, the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) 2016-18 (done under the aegis of MoHFW) shows that India has made substantial improvement in two of the parameters used in the GHI. Prevalence of stunting has reduced from 38.4% as per NFHS-4 to 34.7% and wasting has slashed down from 21.0% to 17.3 % as per the CNNS report. Also, under-5 mortality as per Sample Registration System (SRS)-2018 is 3.6% whereas, as per the GHI-2020 it is reported as 3.7%.
(c) Government is implementing several schemes and programs under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. All these schemes address one or other aspects related to nutrition and have the potential to improve nutritional outcomes in the country. For alleviation of malnutrition, Government has announced Mission Poshan 2.0 to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition. Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen delivery and leverage technology to improve governance.
States/UTs have been advised to promote use of AYUSH systems for prevention of malnutrition and related diseases. A programme to support development of Poshan Vatikas at Anganwadi centres to meet dietary diversity gap leveraging traditional knowledge in nutritional practices has also been taken up.
(d) The trends in stunting and wasting of children under 5 years as reported under the National Family Health Surveys-3 & 4 (NFHS) and Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey is annexed at Annexure-I.
Annexure-I
Statement referred to in reply to Part (d) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No.1985 for 30.07.2021 by SHRI S. VENKATESAN regarding Global Hunger Index 2020.
Prevalence of stunting and wasting in children under 5 years as per NFHS-3 & 4 and CNNS
Children under 5 years
Indicators NFHS-3
(2005-06) NFHS-4
(2015-16) CNNS
(2016-2018)
Stunting (%) 19.8 21 17.3
Wasting (%) 48 38.4 34.7
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