India home to over one-third of world's malnourished children, six percent in Pakistan

(Representational image)

New Delhi: According to a report released in November, India is home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world.

The report found that till the beginning of 2016, 40 percent of Indian children were undernourished. On the other hand, it pointed out that urban India is faced with the challenge of over nutrition.

The study came after a seminar in Guwahati also declared nearly 195 million of India's total population as 'undernourished', being devoid of access to healthy diet.

According to Wikipedia, despite India's 50% increase in GDP since 1991, more than one third of the world's malnourished children live in India. Among these, half of them under 3 are underweight and a third of wealthiest children are over-nutritioned.

As per World Bank estimates, India is one of the highest ranking countries in the world for the number of children suffering from malnutrition.

The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world, and is nearly double that of Sub Saharan Africa with dire consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity and economic growth.

The 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report ranked India 97th out of 118 countries with a serious hunger situation. Amongst South Asian nations, it ranks third behind only Afghanistan and Pakistan with a GHI score of 29.0.

As India continues to consume non-nutritious, non-balanced food either in the form of under nutrition, over nutrition or micronutrient deficiencies, the availability of nutritious food in markets plays an equally significant role in motivating the community to make the right choices.

While the situation in India is certainly concerning, the Global Nutrition Report 2017 launched on Monday revealed that 6 percent children in Pakistan, mostly belonging to the urban areas, are not only stunted but also facing obesity due to the consumption of junk food.

The report, launched by the Planning Commission of Pakistan in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme, also revealed that Pakistan’s spending on nutrition — 3.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — was the lowest in Asia.

According to Dawn, National Manager for Pakistan Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Dr Irshad Danish said that in Pakistan 70 percent people cannot afford a balanced diet.

Dr Danish said 40 percent food was wasted in Pakistan but no one took steps to check it or create awareness about it.

As per the report, a vast majority of the world’s hungry and malnourished lived in developing countries. Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden with about 281 million undernourished people.