1 August 2024 : Daily Answer Writing

Q1) Eradication of chronic malnutrition calls for an all-encompassing approach. In this context, throw light on the importance of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive approaches for achieving the goal of Zero Hunger.

(250 Words/15 Marks)

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of food and nutrients.

The term malnutrition addresses 3 broad groups of conditions:

1. Undernutrition, which includes wasting (low weight-for-height), stunting (low height-for-age) and underweight (low weight-for-age);

2. Micronutrient-malnutrition, which includes deficiencies or access of critical vitamins and minerals.

3. Overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases

The strategies to counter malnutrition consists of two types of measures:

a) nutrition-specific interventions which address immediate needs of nutritional nourishment such as food fortification, and

b) nutrition-sensitive interventions which create enabling environment for nutrition through education, sanitation, women-empowerment etc.

Role of nutrition-specific interventions in addressing the problem of chronic malnutrition:

1. Nutrition-specific interventions address the immediate needs of fetal and new-born health such as through promotion of nutritious diet for pregnant woman, exclusive breastfeeding for children till first six-months of birth etc.

2. Issues of under-nutrition among children such as stunting and wasting are being addressed through measures such as mid-day meals. A study published in Nature highlighted that the midday meal scheme contributed to 13-32% of the improvement in height-for-age among children between 2006 and 2016.

3. Issues of micro-nutrient imbalance such as iodine-deficiency have been dealt with successfully through compulsory iodization of salt. As a result, incidents of Iodine-deficiency diseases like goiter have reduced substantially.

4. Inter-generational Benefits: A study has pointed out that girls with access to mid-day meals at government schools had children with a higher height-to-age ratio than those who did not.

The schemes with nutrition-specific interventions have been running for decades, but the issue of chronic malnutrition continues to persist. More than one in three children in India are stunted. As a result, there is a change in emphasis towards nutrition-sensitive interventions.

Role of nutrition-sensitive interventions in addressing the problem of chronic malnutrition:

1. Family Planning: The risk of stunting and under-weight prevalence is known to be higher in children born to adolescent mothers. Family planning interventions like Mission Parivar Vikas for contraceptive-access have implications on malnutrition.

2. Women-empowerment: Financial empowerment of women in the household is known to increase expenditure on education and nutrition. While campaigns such as Beti-Bachao-Beti-Padhao can help in reducing incidents of malnutrition through education and delayed marriage.

3. Nutrition-sensitive agriculture: It focuses on increasing availability and access through orienting agriculture production and food security towards dietary diversity, such as promoting cultivation of millets and horticulture crops.

4. Maternal Mental Health: Poor mental health affects mothers’ capacity for child care increasing the risk of infections and impaired growth in children. Nutrition interventions must target improvement in mental wellbeing of mothers.

5. Sanitation: There are direct linkages of high disease burden and ability to absorb nutrition in association with practices like open defecation and poor access to clean drinking water. Schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission and Jal Jeevan Mission are some examples of nutrition-sensitive schemes in sanitation.

Mission Poshan 2.0 tries to incorporate nutrition-specific measures like strengthening of nutritional content and delivery along with nutrition-sensitive nurturing of health and wellness. Similar solutions integrating nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions are needed to comprehensively end all forms of malnutrition and achieve the sustainable development goal of ‘zero hunger.’