This alarming figure highlights how urgently coordinated measures to combat malnutrition and protect the health of coming generations are required. The report serves as a sobering reminder that, despite India’s rapid economic growth, the nation is still one of the top 20 countries in the world for the percentage of children living in extreme food poverty—65%.
According to Unicef’s guidelines, children should eat a varied diet that includes foods from at least five of the eight food categories each day. However, millions of kids throughout the globe—64 million of them in South Asia—fall short of this benchmark, which has detrimental long-term effects on their development and causes serious nutritional deficiencies.
Source: NPR
In spite of this dire situation, India offers a glimmer of optimism because, over the previous ten years, the nation has achieved progress toward nutritional parity, as seen by the reduction of the severe child food poverty gap between poorer and wealthier households by at least five percentage points.
This development demonstrates the effectiveness of community-driven projects, government policies that are specifically targeted, and collaborations that work to increase the most vulnerable children’s access to wholesome meals. However, India cannot become complacent; more work needs to be done.
Source: UNICEF
The situation is made worse by the global food system, which is blamed for encouraging low-cost, high-calorie, and nutrient-poor diets. Governments and their international allies must prioritise reducing child food poverty in order to address this, making sure that a variety of affordable and nutritious foods are available.
Essential nutrition services should be provided by health systems, and social protection programs should take into account the dietary requirements of families who are at risk. To guarantee that every kid, regardless of socioeconomic background, has the chance to grow, investments in sustainable solutions are essential.
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