Dr. Banarsi Lal
Malnutrition is considered as a diseases of human society that begins in the womb and eventually lasts till death. It is a serious public health challenge. According to WHO, malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and or nutrients. Diet is a crucial element in the natural history of many public health-related diseases and owing to the multiple factors that eventually determine the dietary habits ,a comprehensive approach is the need of the hour. Most of the developing nations are experiencing a rapid transition in their socio-economic ,demographic, nutrition and health care delivery system-related parameters, owing to which they are experiencing under-nutrition, poverty, communicable diseases etc..Nutrition is the intake of food in relation to the body’s dietary needs. Malnutrition results from the intake of inadequate or excess food. Malnutrition can increase the sustainability of the diseases, reduce immunity, reduce productivity and impair physical and mental development. Hunger is a global challenge. There are about 800 million people in the world who do not have enough food to live a healthy life. The highest numbers of hungry people are in Asia while the highest prevalence of hunger is in Sub-Saharan Africa. Poor nutrition causes around half of deaths of children under five years old. About 100 million children in the world are underweight. Malnutrition is an outcome of poverty and inequality. It has been observed that in 2017 around 1.5 billion people suffered from micro-nutrients deficiencies.2.6 billion people were overweight (30 per cent of global population).Hunger is mainly circumscribed to the specific areas, namely those ravaged by conflicts, droughts and extreme poverty. Obesity is found everywhere and it is increasing alarmingly around the world. The growing rate of obesity is happening at a huge socio-economic cost. Obesity is a risk factor for many non-communicable diseases such as heart attack, diabetes, stroke, cancer etc. There is dire need to eradicate all forms of malnutrition and achieve the target of zero hunger. It is estimated that world population will reach to 9 billion by 2050.In a world of 805 million people, one in nine persons lives in chronic hunger. Every year around five millions children under the age of five die due to malnutrition. Out of ten, four children are malnourished in the poor countries of the world. It is estimated that world produces enough food to feed every person on the earth. No one in the world should have the experience of hunger. A zero hunger world by 2030 is possible”. Malnutrition revolves around agriculture because investment in agriculture supported by education and health can turn around this problem. With the climate change food crisis is a challenge for the entire world. Zero hunger can save the lives of 3.1 million children a year. Well-nourished mothers have healthier babies with a stronger immune system. Proper nutrition in early life could mean 46 per cent more in lifetime earnings. Zero hunger can help to build a safe, prosperous and healthy world. There is need to find new and scientific ways by the farmers to produce quality food and diversify their crops.
Food is a common element for all the human beings on the earth. In India during the marriage ceremonies lot of food is prepared out of which many times lot of food is wasted. Such food can be preserved and distributed among the poor and needy people. A scheme can be launched in which certain percentage of the salaries can be deducted from the employees of various organisations who voluntarily want to donate for food bank and such money can be utilized to feed the poor people. There is need to create awareness on various aspects of agriculture and food security such as biodiversity, climate change etc. People should save the food and eliminate food wastage. There is a need to concentrate on zero hunger. With the elimination of under nutrition in the children GDP up to 16.5 per cent can be increased. Iron deficiency in the population can boost 20 percent of the workplace productivity. India’s food grain production has been on the rise despite year-to-year fluctuations since the Green Revolution of the 1960s. After the Green Revolution, increase in production is due to introduction of yield-increasing technologies, supportive services and infrastructure. The country’s total food grain production was 50 million tons in 1950-51 which was 291.95 million tons in 2019-20. Food-sufficiency does not reflect food security for the entire population of the country though it makes the country food secure at the micro-level. Food security needs to manifest in all its dimensions, covering all regions and all economic strata of society. The per capita availability has also been risen during the same period from around 395 grams per day to nearly 491.9 grams per day despite unabated increase in population. It has been observed that one third (34.3%) children in India are stunted, two children out of five are underweight, three fourth of them are anemic and one out of every three undernourished children in the world is from India.
The Zero Hunger Challenge was launched by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in 2012.The Zero Hunger vision reflects five elements from within the SDGs which taken together can end hunger, eliminate all forms of malnutrition and build sustainable food systems. In order to get the zero hunger society, deep transformation is required in agriculture and food systems. Sustainable food systems can deliver food security and nutrition for all. There is need to promote the climate-compatible agriculture practices including diversification in agriculture. In order to end the rural poverty, there is need to enhance the income of small-scale producers. They hold the key to feed the growing population in a sustainable way. There is also need to minimize the food losses during production, storage and transportation. The mission of the Zero Hunger is to bring together all stakeholders to communicate the importance of food security, nutrition and inclusive, sustainable and resilient agriculture.
Malnutrition is both a driver and outcome of poverty and inequality. Under nutrition can lead to hidden hunger, wasting and stunting which causes irreversible damage to individuals and society. Obesity among the children is increasing in all the regions. There is dire need to ensure the nutritious food among the people to have a healthy society. There is need to mitigate the problem of malnutrition in India. The country appears to be not only self-sufficient in food grains but also having marginally surplus as well. But the issue whether the present level of nutritional intake is adequate or not is still being debated. India has been regularly exporting rice and wheat since December 2000 and the government started offering grains for exports to prune the excessive stock-holding. India has since become the world’s second largest exporter of rice and seventh that of wheat. The subsequent drought and increased domestic grain utilization in its wake slowed down the exports but even then the export surplus has continued to persist. India accounts for 33% of the total poor people in the world. Time and again India evolved strategies to tackle rural as well as urban poverty. The real issue is not the availability of food but of its affordability by the poor. There is need to adopt multisectoral approach by involving the Government and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), various national and local institutions, civil society organizations, private sectors and citizens to end the malnutrition from the society. We all need to make collective efforts for a healthy diet. Zero hunger encompasses the eradication of all forms of nutrition. Our objective should not only to feed the people but also to nourish the people. Food system should be transformed in such a way so that all the people can consume safe, healthy and nutritious food.A comprehensive approach is the need of the hour to manage the problem of diseases associated with either excess or deficiency of specific nutrients.
(The writer is Chief Scientist and Head of KVK Reasi SKUAST-J)