Page 51 - 30NOV2019E

h ealth

Every second child under under the age of five years are affected by prevalence has been recognised as one Overweight and obesity increas -

micro-nutrient deficiencies. While every of the best programmes implemented by ingly begin in childhood with a growing
fifth child under the age five is vitamin A
governments across the world to address threat of non-communicable diseases
five faces malnutrition deficient, one in every third baby has a malnutrition. like diabetes (10 per cent) in school-aged
children and adolescents. Urban India
vitamin B12 deficiency and two out of
The 6X6X6 strategy (six target ben-
every five children are anaemic.
eficiary groups, six interventions and six
is moving into an unhealthy food snack-
The report said POSHAN Abhiyaan or institutional mechanisms) of the pro-
the National Nutrition Mission is playing gramme has been highlighted for using ing environment, which is influenc -
ing children’s food choices and this is
a major role in improving nutrition indi- anaemia testing and treatment as the spreading to rural areas. Food consump-
While every fifth child under the age five is vitamin A deficient, one ated for only 53 per cent of infants aged cators across India. The Anaemia Mukt entry point to provide information on tion patterns in India reveal that child
in every third baby has a vitamin B12 deficiency and two out of every 6-8 months. Bharat programme to fight anaemic healthy diets. diets are largely starved of proteins and
In one of its kind report released after
micro-nutrients and are influenced by
five children are anaemic, tehelka bureau finds out 20 year, the UNICEF said that every sec- household (adult) food choices.
ond woman in India is anaemic. It also Over the decades, despite grow -
alnutrition caused 69 per by some form of malnutrition. said that anaemia is the most prevalent What is malnutrition? unnoticed until it’s too late. ing incomes, protein-based calories
cent of deaths of chil - This includes stunting (35 per cent), in children under the age of five years. remain low and unchanged, and the cal-
dren below the age of wasting (17 per cent) and overweight (2 Its prevalence among adolescent girls is Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, How many children are orific share of fruits and vegetables has
five in India, according per cent). Only 42 per cent of children twice as that of adolescent boys. excesses or imbalances in a per- malnourished in the declined. The report said globally 77 per
M to a UNICEF report. The (in the age group of 6 to 23 months) are Indian children are being diagnosed son’s intake of energy and/or nutri- world?
report titled ‘The State of the World’s fed at an adequate frequency and 21 with adult diseases such as hyperten- ents. The term malnutrition covers
Children 2019’ also points out that every per cent get an adequately diverse diet. sion, chronic kidney disease and pre- 2 broad groups of conditions. One is One in three children is not grow- In one of its kind
second child in that age group is affected Timely complementary feeding is initi- diabetic. The data states that children ‘under-nutrition’ — which includes ing well because of malnutrition. report released
stunting (low height for age), In many countries, and even within
wasting (low weight for height), households, these three forms of after 20 year, the
underweight (low weight for age) malnutrition – undernutrition, UNICEF says that every
and micronutrient deficiencies or hidden hunger and overweight –
insufficiencies (a lack of important co-exist. This means that a single second woman in India
vitamins and minerals). The other country may face the challenge of is anaemic. It also
is overweight, obesity and diet- addressing high rates of stunting,
related non-communicable dis- micronutrient deficiencies, and said that anaemia is
eases (such as heart disease, stroke, obesity. Or a family may have an the most prevalent in
diabetes and cancer). overweight mother and a stunted
child. These trends reflect what is children under the
How does malnutrition known as the triple burden of mal- age of five years
child looks like? nutrition, a burden that threatens
the survival, growth and devel-
When you picture child malnu- opment of children, economies cent of processed food sales are con -
trition, what do you see? Twenty and societies. This burden is only trolled by just 100 large firms. In cities,
years ago, the image was arrest- expected to grow. many poor children live in “food deserts”
ing: a dangerously underweight or in “food swamps”.
child who wasn’t getting enough Has any progress been Regarding the situation globally, the
to eat. Today, there are still mil- made in decreasing UNICEF’s report said at least one in three
lions of malnourished children, obesity among children? children under five years of age — or
but the picture is changing. While 200 million — is either undernourished
the number of stunted children is Strikingly, not a single country has or overweight. The report states that
falling in every continent except made progress in decreasing levels almost two in three children between
Africa, overweight and obesity are of overweight and obesity in the six months and two years of age are not
growing in every continent, includ- past 20 years. We are left facing the fed food that supports their rapidly grow-
ing Africa, and at a much faster question: why are so many children ing bodies and brains. This puts them
rate. Globally, at least half eating too little of what they need, at a risk of poor brain development,
of all children under five suffer while an increasing number of chil- weak learning, low immunity, increased
from hidden hunger: a lack of dren are eating too much of what infections and, in many cases, death, it
essential nutrients that often goes they don’t need? said.
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