“Malnutrition In India: An Overview”

Among the current rising issues, one among them that needs immediate attention of the nation is malnutrition— comprising both under nutrition and over nutrition— which is an important indicator of the health of any country. It is observed that people who are either obese or undernourished underperform in various aspects of their life, making them vulnerable to missing out on opportunities and becoming productive members of society. India is one among those countries in the world which has one of the highest recorded numbers of undernourished population. As the nation aspires to fulfill its economic and social development goals, among the areas which requires greater attention malnutrition is one of them. This summary offers an overview of the condition of prevalence of malnutrition in India and documents efforts being made by the various sectors of the Indian society which includes Government initiatives, voluntary groups, corporate & individuals' efforts to overcome the problem. It examines India's performance of the policies measures/programs at the implementation/execution level by looking into some of the key malnutrition indicators, as well as the success, or lack thereof over the last few decades. This summary argues that the malnutrition challenge being faced by India can be addressed only when the Governments – both Central & State Government, work in coordination with each other and adopt a comprehensive and coordinated approach and demonstrate better governance. And since the public at large are the epicenter of the issue, their involvement becomes indispensable.