India leads malnutrition chart in South Asia: Tribals, scheduled castes worse off

India has always struggled with a problem of malnutrition and Unicef in a recent study revealed that one million children under five are dying in India due to malnutrition related causes. [caption id=“attachment_114072” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] According to this New Indian Express report, Vitamin A deficiency is one of the most severe aspects of malnutrition. The report further added that it takes a toll on kids and is one of the major contributors to infant and child mortality. Sadly, the number of children in India that suffer from malnutrition is higher than all the other South Asian countries. The report also highlighted that in India the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes are 20 percent more likely to have widespread cases of acute malnutrition. The Indian Express report further added that 58 percent of kids under five in rural areas are malnutritioned and were reported to have stunted growth. In a Times of India report, a new study in Madhya Pradesh has found that preventable deaths continue to hit children in the poorest areas of the country. Addressing the issue of malnutrition,  experts at a recent event titled ‘Acute Malnutrition-An Everyday Emergency’, said that children in India, belonging to lower income groups like dalits, adivasis, OBCs and rural communities suffer most from malnutrition and around one million die every year due to this problem. ACF India and Fight Hunger Foundation trying to combat this acute problem of malnutrition announced the launch of the Generational Nutrition Program on Tuesday. Speaking about the program ACF India deputy country director Rajiv Tandon said that there was an urgent need to recognise severe acute malnutrition as a medical emergency. He also stressed on the need for policies to tackle malnutrition and adequate budgets for implementation.