India has highest malnutrition in south Asia | Fusion - WeRIndia

India’s malnutrition problem is one of its biggest emergencies because it is found that approximately 1 million children under the age of five in India die due to malnutrition causes. These statistics were released by UNICEF and they are far above the emergency threshold for acute malnutrition as per WHO classification of the severity of malnutrition.

A study in Baran, Rajasthan and Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh has found that many child deaths which are preventable are still happening in the poorest areas of the country. On Tuesday, ACF India and Fight Hunger Foundation have announced the launch of the Generational Nutrition Program. This program was launched as there was an urgent need to recognize severe malnutrition as a medical emergency.

ACF India deputy country director Rajiv Tandon has stressed on the need for policies to tackle malnutrition and adequate budgets for implementation. In India, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward castes, and rural communities face the highest burden of malnutrition cases.

According to an ACF report, the number of children affected by malnutrition in India is higher than all the south Asian countries with high burden of wasting or acute malnutrition. These reports show just how vulnerable many areas of India are. They need an immediate action to prevent more deaths.

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