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Child Malnutrition and Health Crisis in India

The document discusses issues related to malnutrition and child mortality in India. It states that 47% of Indian children under age 3 are malnourished, which is almost twice the rate in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite economic growth, India's child malnutrition rate has only declined 1%. High infant mortality, diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, poor sanitation, and inadequate access to safe drinking water all contribute to the problems. Over 50% of India's population practices open defecation, risking spread of diseases and further malnutrition.

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Heena Jabeen
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7 views1 page

Child Malnutrition and Health Crisis in India

The document discusses issues related to malnutrition and child mortality in India. It states that 47% of Indian children under age 3 are malnourished, which is almost twice the rate in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite economic growth, India's child malnutrition rate has only declined 1%. High infant mortality, diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, poor sanitation, and inadequate access to safe drinking water all contribute to the problems. Over 50% of India's population practices open defecation, risking spread of diseases and further malnutrition.

Uploaded by

Heena Jabeen
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

PricewaterhouseCoopers has exercised professional care and diligence in the collection and processing of the information in this report.

However,

47% of Indias children below the age of three are malnourished, almost twice the statistics of sub-Saharan African region of 28%.[1] World Bank estimates this figure to be 60 million children out of a global estimated total of 146 million.[2] Although Indias economy grew 50% from 20012006, its child-malnutrition rate only dropped 1%, lagging behind countries of similar growth rate.[3] Malnutrition impedes the social and cognitive development of a child, reducing his educational attainment and income as an adult.[4] These irreversible damages result in lower productivity.[5]

[edit] High Infant Mortality Rate


Approximately 1.72 million children die each year before turning one.[6] The under five mortality rate and infant mortality rate indicators have been declining comparing years 1970 and 2002 (202 to 90 & 192 to 68 per thousand live births respectively).[7] However, this rate of decline is slowing. Reduced funding for immunization leaves only 43.5% of the young fully immunized.[8] Infrastructures like hospitals, roads, water and sanitation are lacking in rural areas.[9] Shortages of healthcare providers, poor intra-partum and newborn care, diarrheal diseases and acute respiratory infections, also contribute to the high infant mortality rate.[10]

[edit] Diseases
Diseases such as dengue fever, hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria and pneumonia continue to plague India due to increased resistance to drugs.[11] India is ranked 3rd among the countries with the most number of HIV-infected.[12] Diarrheal diseases are the primary causes of early childhood mortality.[13] These diseases can be attributed to poor sanitation and inadequate safe drinking water in India.[14] Poor Sanitation As more than 122 million households have no toilets and 33% lack access to latrines, over 50% of the population (638 million) defecates in the open.[15] This is relatively higher than Bangladesh and Brazil (7%) and China (4%).[15] Although 211 million people gained access to improved sanitation from 19902008, only 31% uses them.[15] 11% of the Indian rural families dispose of child stools safely whereas 80% of the population leave their stools in the open or throw them into the garbage.[15] Open air defecation leads to the spreading of diseases and malnutrition through parasitic and bacterial infections.[16] Inadequate Safe Drinking Water

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