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Rising malnutrition grips Indian children amidst pandemic challenges
The study reveals an alarming 14 percent surge in underweight children due to supply chain disruptions and policy gaps
Children in New Delhi wait in line to receive food from aid workers during the COVID-19 pandemic / Photo by PradeepGaurs/Shutterstock
Malnutrition among Indian children experienced a significant surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent study by the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) found.
Published earlier this month in Economic and Political Weekly, the study examined data from pre- and post-pandemic surveys focusing on children's health and nutrition.
The number of children classified as underweight increased by a staggering 14 percent due to various disruptions triggered by the pandemic. Factors contributing to the rise include supply chain disruptions, inflation in food prices, loss of employment, and interruptions in government food safety net programs, according to the study.
Previous TCI studies on the pandemic impact in India have highlighted how supply chain disruptions increased food prices and worsened dietary diversity among women. Professor Prabhu Pingali, TCI director, emphasized that disruptions to India's food systems during the pandemic adversely affected access to healthy diets, particularly for marginalized populations relying on government programs.
The study also analyzed survey data collected from 511 households in the states of Bihar and Odisha between June 2017 and July 2021, approximately 18 months after the last pandemic-related lockdowns in India. Researchers found a notable increase in the percentage of underweight children, rising from 31 percent in 2017 to 45 percent in 2021, with children under the age of 2 being disproportionately affected.
The worsening weight-for-age status was attributed to various factors, including reduced access to food safety net programs like Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Partnerships and Opportunities to Strengthen and Harmonize Actions for Nutrition (POSHAN) initiative, and Mid-Day Meal Scheme.
To address these issues, researchers recommended that policymakers focus on promoting agricultural diversification to ensure access to diverse and nutritious foods. Household production diversity, measured by the number of crops grown by a farming household, emerged as a significant predictor of weight-for-age.
Additionally, researchers recommended that policymakers work to minimize disruptions to essential programs like ICDS and POSHAN to ensure supplementary nutrition for vulnerable groups. In situations where physical service delivery is challenging, they proposed exploring direct cash transfers.
Highlighting the impact on children under the age of 2, the study stressed the importance of prioritizing the restoration of basic maternal and child-care services. There was an evident correlation between a mother's body mass index (BMI) and improved child weight during the pandemic, the study discovered.
Researchers are urging policymakers to address disruptions that have a significant impact on children's nutrition and to enhance household resilience through diversified farming. This approach aims to minimize the adverse effects on children's health and development during future crises.
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