India has ranked 107th out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022, down from the 101st position in 2021. A high score gets a country a lower ranking and implies a worse performance.

Jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerlife, the GHI lists countries by ‘severity’. Zero Hunger by 2030” — one of the Sustainable Development Goals laid out by the United Nations. It is for this reason that GHI scores are not calculated for certain high-income countries. four key parameters because, taken together, these parameters capture multiple dimensions — such a deficiency of micronutrients — of hunger, thus providing a far more comprehensive measure of hunger.

Undernourishment (which reflects inadequate food availability): calculated by the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient);

* Child Wasting (which reflects acute undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, those who have low weight for their height);

* Child Stunting (which reflects chronic undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, those who have low height for their age);

* Child Mortality (which reflects both inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environment): calculated by the mortality rate of children under the age of five (in part, a reflection of the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition.

Yemen has ranked in the lowest position at 121.

The top of the list is dominated by European nations including Croatia, Estonia and Montenegro.

         Among Asian nations, China and Kuwait have ranked the highest.

With a score of 29.1, which falls in the ‘serious’ category of hunger, India was ranked behind its neighbours Nepal (81), Pakistan (99), Sri Lanka (64), and Bangladesh (84). India has been recording decreasing GHI scores over the years. In 2000, it recorded an ‘alarming’ score of 38.8, which reduced to 28.2 by 2014. The country has started recording higher scores since then.

While India has been consistently recording lower values for the four indicators, it started going up in 2014 for undernourishment and the prevalence of wasting in children. The proportion of undernourishment in the population went from 14.8 in 2014 to 16.3 in 2022, and the prevalence of wasting in children under five years jumped from 15.1 in 2014 to 19.3 in 2022.

LEARNING FROM HOME/WITHOUT CLASSSE/BASICS 

For several decades India was dealing with only one form of malnutrition– undernutrition. In the last decade, now faces the double burden which includes both over- and undernutrition,

      What is malnutrition?

Malnutrition is the condition that develops when the body does not get the right amount of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ function. The term malnutrition covers 2 broad groups of conditions.

One is ‘—which includes stunting (low height for age)reflecting chronic undernutrition. ; It is is associated with an underdeveloped brain, poor learning capacity, and increased nutrition-related diseases.), wasting (low weight for height) reflecting acute undernutrition; It is associated with decreased fat mass. Also known as wasting syndrome, it causes muscle and fat tissue to waste away.)

underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals).

The other is overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer).

Children who are already undernourished can suffer from protein-energy malnutrition (PEM).

Two types of PEM are— Kwashiorkor and Marasmus.

Maternal death is when a woman dies during her pregnancy or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy

IMR: The death of a baby before his or her first birthday is called infant mortality. The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths that occur for every 1,000 live births.

NNR:A neonatal death is defined as a death during the first 28 days of life (0-27 days) per 1000 live births