During the COVID-19 pandemic, those living in poverty are among the most vulnerable. In India, where “the proportion of employed population below $1.90 purchasing power parity a day in 2019 is 10.7 percent” according to the Asian Development Bank, it is an issue that must be addressed. Earlier this month, the World Bank warned that […]
malnourishment
Hunger: A global – and Indian – crisis
“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” I used this quote from Mahatma Gandhi to preface an article published in 2017, focused on the crisis of hunger and malnutrition – one borne by India at virtually all levels of society and one […]
Junk food in schools off the menu
Soon, junk food will no longer be sold in schools. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has moved to prohibit the sale of junk food in school canteens against the backdrop of a growing crisis of childhood obesity in the country. By 2030, India is expected to be home to 27 million […]
The hunger of a nation: What the GHI tells India
India has slipped on the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Global Hunger Index (GHI), ranking 102nd out of 117 countries. Countries are scored by the GHI between zero and 100, with India scoring 30.3 – worse than the score for the South Asia region as a whole, which the GHI puts at 29.3. India fares […]
CNNS: Malnutrition’s continued burden in India
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 […]
Government to measure stunting levels
India has more children considered to be stunted than any other nation by a clear margin. The latest figures suggest there are around 46.6 million children who are stunted in the country. The government is assessing a number of parameters to be used to measure stunted growth in children in an attempt to see how […]
The “eat right movement” to combat rise in NCDs
Can India’s rising tide of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) be stemmed by moving back to the basics of the food we eat? The “Eat Right Movement” believes it can. NCDs are reaching epidemic proportions in India. 61 percent of all deaths in the country can be attributed to NCDs. Heart disease alone accounted for 28.1 percent […]