Lok Sabha Question No. 1060 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-22
Subject: Position of India in Global Hunger Index
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Mahesh Sahoo

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1060

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2022

## POSITION OF INDIA IN GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX

## 1060.  SHRI MAHESH SAHOO:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the position of India among nations in the list of undernourished population as per Global Hunger Index 2021;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  undertaken  any  study  on  undernourishment  of women and children at regular intervals and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has formulated any action plan to tackle the issue of under nourishment of women and children and check malnourishment deaths in the country, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  any  details  of  undernourished  women  and children in Odisha and if so, the details thereof, district-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) As  per  Global  Hunger  lndex  2021  report  prepared  by  'Welthungerhilfe'  and 'Concern Worldwide', India's score is 27.5 and it has ranked 101 among 116 countries. Global Hunger Index is based on four indicators - Undernourishment, Child Stunting, Child Wasting and Child Mortality.

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 indicators, only one indicator,  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.  Food  and  Agriculture Organisation  (FAO)  of  the  United  Nations,  the  data  source  agency  for  the  indicator 'Prevalence of Undernourishment', has relied on the opinion poll conducted telephonically, which has completely disregarded Government's economic response to Covid-19  of  providing  free  foodgrains  to  80  crore  National  Food  Security  Act beneficiaries under Pradhan  Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna  Yojna, and given an unacceptable estimate for India for the triennium period 2018-2020. The 4 questions asked in the poll have no links to availability of food or dietary energy.

FAO's  estimates  on  'Prevalence  of  Undernourishment'  in  India  for  the  triennium periods 2015-17, 20016-18, 2017-19 are 14.8%, 14.5% and 14.0% respectively, which clearly show a declining trend. India has not faced any major challenges on the food production  and  supply  part  in  the  recent  past  which  would  adversely  affect  the 'Prevalence of Undernourished' score. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, have improved on this indicator during the triennium period 2018-20,  signifying  that these countries have not been affected at all by Covid-19 pandemic induced loss of job/business  and  reduction  in  income  levels.  These  are  counterintuitive  in  view  of higher  mortality  rates  due  to  Covid-19  in  2  countries  during  2020.  Thus,  the assessment made by FAO does not reflect  the  ground  reality  and  is  not  worthy  of consideration.

- (b) Government  conducts  National  Family  Health  Survey  (NFHS)  at  regular intervals. As per the latest report of NFHS, i.e., NFHS-5 (2019-21), child stunting in the country has decreased from 38.4% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 35.5% (NFHS-5, 2019-21) and child wasting has decreased from 21.0% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 19.3% (NFHS-5, 2019-21).  Further,  percentage  of  underweight  children  has  also  gone  down  from 35.8% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 32.1% (NFHS-5, 2019-21).
- (c) The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes like Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) as direct targeted interventions to  address  the  problem  of  malnutrition  in  the  country.  Children  with  Severe  Acute Malnutrition (SAM) are treated at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres established by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Further, POSHAN Abhiyaan launched on 8 th March 2018, aims to reduce malnutrition in  the  country  in  a  phased  manner,  by  adopting  a  synergised  and  result  oriented approach.

The  efforts  under  the  Supplementary  Nutrition  Programme  (SNP)  under Anganwadi Services and POSHAN Abhiyaan have been rejuvenated and converged as  'Saksham  Anganwadi  and  POSHAN  2.0'.  It  seeks  to  address  the  challenges  of malnutrition  in  children,  adolescent  girls,  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers through  a  strategic  shift  in  nutrition  content  and  delivery  and  by  creation  of  a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and  immunity.  The  Anganwadi  Services,  Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls  and  Poshan Abhiyaan  have  been  re-aligned  under  'Saksham  Anganwadi  and  POSHAN  2.0' for maximizing nutritional outcomes. Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and  testing  in  accredited  labs,  strengthen  delivery  and  leverage  technology  under Poshan Tracker 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. Guidelines were issued for transparency and accountability in delivery of supplementary nutrition and to track nutritional outcomes on 13.01.2021.

Malnutrition is not a direct cause of death among children under five years of age.  However,  it  can  increase  morbidity  and  mortality  by  reducing  resistance  to infections.  Malnourished  children  are  more  vulnerable  to  any  infection  than  normal children. However, the overall under five child mortality rate has reduced from 49.7 (in NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 41.9 (in NFHS-5, 2019-21).

- (d) The district-wise details of malnourished children and women in the State of Odisha as per NFHS-5 survey (2019-21) is at Annexure.

Annexure District wise details of malnourished children and women in the state of Odisha

## as per NFHS-5 survey (2019-21)

| State          | Children under 5 years who are stunted (%)   | Children under 5 years who are wasted (%)   | Children under 5 years who are underweight (%)   | Women aged 15-49 years with low BMI (%) (BMI <18.5 kg/m 2 )   |
|----------------|----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| Odisha         | 31                                           | 18.1                                        | 29.7                                             | 20.8                                                          |
| District       | Children under 5 years who are stunted (%)   | Children under 5 years who are wasted (%)   | Children under 5 years who are underweight (%)   | Women aged 15-49 years with low BMI (BMI <18.5 kg/m 2 ) (%)   |
| Anugul         | 28.1                                         | 25.1                                        | 30.5                                             | 20.6                                                          |
| Balangir       | 32.7                                         | 25.5                                        | 37.6                                             | 21.5                                                          |
| Baleshwar      | 24.4                                         | 15.0                                        | 22.6                                             | 23.9                                                          |
| Bargarh        | 38.9                                         | 18.0                                        | 30.0                                             | 19.0                                                          |
| Baudh          | 37.0                                         | 20.1                                        | 38.6                                             | 22.1                                                          |
| Bhadrak        | 32.3                                         | 15.8                                        | 28.9                                             | 24.7                                                          |
| Cuttack        | 20.4                                         | 14.2                                        | 18.9                                             | 15.7                                                          |
| Debagarh       | 28.4                                         | 27.3                                        | 34.3                                             | 23.3                                                          |
| Dhenkanal      | 33.3                                         | 22.7                                        | 30.0                                             | 18.9                                                          |
| Gajapati       | 43.4                                         | 16.1                                        | 34.3                                             | 23.5                                                          |
| Ganjam         | 23.9                                         | 10.2                                        | 18.9                                             | 11.2                                                          |
| Jagatsinghapur | 13.2                                         | 10.7                                        | 11.0                                             | 12.9                                                          |
| Jajapur        | 25.5                                         | 15.9                                        | 21.8                                             | 24.4                                                          |
| Jharsuguda     | 27.1                                         | 16.9                                        | 26.9                                             | 21.2                                                          |
| Kalahandi      | 33.0                                         | 17.2                                        | 33.6                                             | 23.8                                                          |
| Kandhamal      | 34.2                                         | 23.3                                        | 35.2                                             | 21.0                                                          |
| Kendrapara     | 28.6                                         | 7.9                                         | 17.9                                             | 20.5                                                          |
| Kendujhar      | 36.2                                         | 23.8                                        | 37.1                                             | 25.9                                                          |
| Khordha        | 17.1                                         | 13.2                                        | 16.9                                             | 10.0                                                          |
| Koraput        | 43.1                                         | 15.9                                        | 33.5                                             | 27.2                                                          |
| Malkangiri     | 44.3                                         | 19.3                                        | 41.6                                             | 38.6                                                          |
| Mayurbhanj     | 36.7                                         | 28.5                                        | 45.9                                             | 30.2                                                          |
| Nabarangapur   | 44.1                                         | 25.2                                        | 46.6                                             | 30.9                                                          |
| Nayagarh       | 20.0                                         | 10.5                                        | 20.2                                             | 13.1                                                          |
| Nuapada        | 43.1                                         | 18.1                                        | 38.0                                             | 30.7                                                          |
| Puri           | 13.8                                         | 8.9                                         | 11.3                                             | 12.9                                                          |
| Rayagada       | 43.6                                         | 16.1                                        | 39.8                                             | 26.7                                                          |
| Sambalpur      | 40.7                                         | 25.5                                        | 36.3                                             | 19.7                                                          |
| Subarnapur     | 29.6                                         | 26                                          | 34.5                                             | 20.5                                                          |

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