India has made no progress on anaemia and childhood wasting according to the 2021 Global Nutrition Report.
Findings of the Report:
Over half of Indian women in the age group 15-49 years are anaemic.
There has been a rise in anaemic Indian women since 2016. In 2016, 52.6 per cent of Indian women were anaemic. But in 2020, 53 per cent were found to be anaemic.
India is also among 23 countries that have made no progress or are worsening on reducing ‘childhood wasting’.
India is ‘off-course’ in meeting 7 of the 13 global nutrition targets.
Some 6.2 per cent of adult (aged 18 years and over) women and 3.5 per cent of adult men are living with obesity.
India is among 53 countries ‘on course’ to meet the target for stunting.
India does not have adequate data on prevalence of ‘low birth weight’.
Suggestions:
Global nutrition monitoring must expand to key targets for improving diets and health that go beyond micronutrient deficiencies, hunger and excess weight.
Stakeholders and commitment-makers must give special attention to nutrition action that supports equitable, healthy and sustainable diets for all.
Traditional forms of financing for nutrition – external and domestic – must be sustained and increased, while other sources of financing – particularly innovative and private – need to step up.
Countries must be better supported to leverage new tools that drive efficiency and effectiveness of investments to maximise the impact of available financing.
Better and more granular data is needed, including on financing, to fully understand the current state of nutrition, inform effective action, and ensure that impact can be measured and monitored.
About Global Nutrition Report:
It was conceived following the first Nutrition for Growth Initiative Summit (N4G) in 2013.
The first report was published in 2014.
It acts as a report card on the world’s nutrition—globally, regionally, and country by country—and on efforts to improve it.
It is a multi-stakeholder initiative, consisting of a Stakeholder Group, Independent Expert Group and Report Secretariat.
