Malnutrition continues to be a significant public health and development burden in India, impacting the health of the nation’s children in manifold ways – as the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) reminds us. Recent Union Health Ministry data, based on the findings of the CNNS which was conducted between 2014 and 2018, found high prevalences […]
anaemia
Punjab launches anti-anaemia campaign
A 45-day campaign is underway in Punjab to end anaemia, one of the state’s major public health threats. The District Level Health Survey for the 2012-13 period registered a prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women in Punjab of 58 percent and adolescents (those aged fifteen to nineteen years) of 43 percent. Severe anaemia affected five […]
Child and maternal mortality: India still a leader
“Thirty years ago, the world made a commitment to protect and fulfil children’s rights as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Among the most fundamental of these rights is the right of every child to survive.” So reads the introduction of the latest Levels and Trends in Child Mortality, a joint […]
Malnutrition: Responsible for two-thirds of child deaths
Malnutrition was responsible for almost seventy percent of child deaths in India in 2017, a recent review of data has revealed. Every state in India lost more lives of children under five to malnutrition than to any other cause, the review revealed, with 68.2 percent of total child deaths in the country caused by malnourishment. […]
Disease profile: Anaemia
Anaemia is a common problem in India. It is a risk in its own right and causes a number of deaths, yet it has further implications for heart function. Iron-deficiency anaemia places an increased strain on the heart, placing a great deal of stress on the organ and resulting in reduced cardiac function. Heart disease […]
Severe anaemia: Progress made
Severe anaemia is one of India’s biggest public challenges, particularly when it comes to the welfare of women. The overall prevalence for anaemia in India is estimated to be 39.86 percent, with women in the 15-49 age demographic particularly vulnerable. A 2017 study revealed 51 percent of women in this bracket to be anaemic in […]
Let’s talk about malnutrition
Elections begin this week, and it is worth appraising India’s diversity: not only evident in its cultural landscape but also in the distribution of wealth and wellness. Even as 22 percent of its population lives below the poverty line, India is home to 84 of the world’s billionaires according to Forbes 2016. India is the […]
Why CO2 will cause a malnutrition crisis in India
Tens of millions of Indians face nutritional deficiencies in the coming decades because of carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution, a recent study suggests. Rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are killing crop quality in India. This means commonly consumed foodstuffs in the country, such as rice and wheat, will lose much of their nutritional value. This […]
Nutrition in India, anaemia and obesity
Shocking figures reveal that 51 percent of Indian women between the ages of 15 and 49 are considered anaemic. In the same age group 22 percent of women are overweight. Could both sets of figures point to unhealthy lifestyle and nutrition choices? The statistics, revealed in the Global Nutrition Report 2017 establish that India forms […]
World sickle cell day 2017
Sickle cell disease is endemic among some populations in India. As a genetically inherited condition some populations are disproportionately affected. In India. There are many poorer, rural areas in which the disease is prevalent, as well as within a number of tribal populations. Marking June 19th as World sickle cell day, charities asked that the […]