Underweight And Overweight: India’s Twin Malnutrition Problems

India ranks at number 102 out of 117 countries on the Global Hunger Index. This number is much worse than our neighbors Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, or Nepal, which do much better at ranks 86, 67, 68, 72, respectively.

However, unlike in earlier decades, malnourishment is no longer indicated only by low weight or stunting. Malnutrition is also rampant amongst the rapidly increasing numbers of overweight and obese people. About 20% of the population is overweight/obese.

Malnourishment is prevalent not only due to low protein and lipid intake, but also due to inadequate micronutrient diversity in the diet.  Protein and fats are too expensive, and so are vegetables and fruit. Grain, potatoes, and sugar, on the other hand, are cheap.

So we have the problem that most of the overweight/obese population are also protein and micronutrient deficient.

We need a new way of addressing these problems. The CEO of FSSAI says in his article at the below hyperlink that the government is making good progress.  However, I do not believe that the government is up to the task. They do not have a good plan or budget to tackle this effectively.

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/why-we-need-need-to-revisit-the-national-nutrition-strategy-malnutrition-obesity-undernutrition-india-6187824/