1/3 of world’s stunted kids are from India, says report

Also Home To Huge Number Of Wasted & Overweight Kids

India is among the countries accounting for the highest burden of stunted, wasted and overweight children, the new Global Nutrition Report, 2018 reflecting the growing concern around child nutrition in the country.

With 46.6 million stunted children, India accounted for nearly one-third of the world’s 150.8 million children who are stunted, the report shows. India is followed by Nigeria (13.9 million) and Pakistan (10.7 million). The three countries together are home to almost half of all stunted children in the world.

This is despite the improvement made by India in reducing stunting since 2005-06. According to the latest National Family Health Survey-4 data, India recorded a 10 percentage point decline in stunting from 48% during 2005-06 to 38.4% in 2015-16. Stunting, or low height for age, is caused by long-term insufficient nutrient-intake and frequent infections.

Underlining the variation in stunting within the country, the report said India is so diverse from state to state, it is important to understand how and why stunting prevalence differs. “The mapping showed that stunting varies greatly from district to district (12.4% to 65.1%), with 239 of 604 districts having stunting levels above 40%,” it said.

India also accounts for the largest number of wasted children with low weight for height. India recorded 25.5 million children who are wasted. This is more significant because percentage of wasted children has increased in India. According to NFHS-4, percentage of wasted children under five years increased from 19.8% in 2005-06 t0 21% in 2015-16.

Wasting, usually caused by food shortage or disease, is a strong predictor of mortality among children under five years of age. India figures among the set of countries that have more than a million overweight children. “The figures call for immediate action. Malnutrition is responsible for more ill-health than any other cause,” Corinna Hawkes, co-chair of the report and director of the Centre for Food Policy said.

Modi to meet Saudi crown prince today

New Delhi:

The Jamal Khashoggi murder may have isolated the Saudi crown prince in many parts of the western world but PM Narendra Modi will meet Mohammed bin Salman on Friday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires.

Government sources said issues relating to energy and economy would be discussed between the two leaders. Describing Saudi Arabia as a “valuable partner”, official sources said “the relationship has expanded beyond the Indian community to issues related to the economy, energy and security”.

Modi will also do the familiar Indian balancing act with two back-to-back trilateral meetings — Japan-USIndia and Russia-India-China. Modi, Shinzo Abe and Donald Trump will hold the first-ever trilateral summit in Argentina, a meeting announced by US national security adviser John Bolton. It was not announced by foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale in New Delhi, indicating it may have been a last minute thing. So far, the trilateral has met at the official level and occasionally at the foreign minister level.

The Russia-India-China (RIC) meeting, another lastminute one, upgrades what is essentially a foreign ministerlevel arrangement. The last time an RIC summit was held was 12 years ago. After BRICS was formed a decade ago, the RIC was downgraded to a foreign minister-level arrangement. The fact that it has been revived is indicative of a couple of things — first, India is using it to balance the other trilateral, and second, the RIC may be getting another lease of life because after Jair Bolsonaro’s election as Brazilian president, there have been apprehensions that he may take Brazil out of BRICS.

Nevertheless, Indian officials said they saw the two trilateral meetings as a sign of India’s growing international stature.

New Delhi:

The Jamal Khashoggi murder may have isolated the Saudi crown prince in many parts of the western world but PM Narendra Modi will meet Mohammed bin Salman on Friday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires.

Government sources said issues relating to energy and economy would be discussed between the two leaders. Describing Saudi Arabia as a “valuable partner”, official sources said “the relationship has expanded beyond the Indian community to issues related to the economy, energy and security”.

Modi will also do the familiar Indian balancing act with two back-to-back trilateral meetings — Japan-USIndia and Russia-India-China. Modi, Shinzo Abe and Donald Trump will hold the first-ever trilateral summit in Argentina, a meeting announced by US national security adviser John Bolton. It was not announced by foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale in New Delhi, indicating it may have been a last minute thing. So far, the trilateral has met at the official level and occasionally at the foreign minister level.

The Russia-India-China (RIC) meeting, another lastminute one, upgrades what is essentially a foreign ministerlevel arrangement. The last time an RIC summit was held was 12 years ago. After BRICS was formed a decade ago, the RIC was downgraded to a foreign minister-level arrangement. The fact that it has been revived is indicative of a couple of things — first, India is using it to balance the other trilateral, and second, the RIC may be getting another lease of life because after Jair Bolsonaro’s election as Brazilian president, there have been apprehensions that he may take Brazil out of BRICS.

Nevertheless, Indian officials said they saw the two trilateral meetings as a sign of India’s growing international stature.

(Source : Times Of India)

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