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World Bank Report on Stunting

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August 18, 2018

Why in news?

World Bank recently released a report on the prevalence and effects of stunting.

What are the highlights?

  • A child is stunted if the height-for-age ratio is not proportionate.
  • Effects - Children with stunted growth are more prone to enduring adverse outcomes later in life.
  • They suffer from impaired brain development.
  • This leads to lower cognitive and socio-emotional skills, and lower levels of educational attainment.
  • India - The World Bank analysed 140 countries for workers who were stunted as children.
  • Of these, only Afghanistan (67%) and Bangladesh (73%) surpassed India’s proportion (66%).
  • Around 66% of the working population in India are earning 13% less.
  • This is specifically because of lack of skills due to stunting in childhood.
  • This is one of the highest proportions worldwide in such reductions in per capita income.
  • Others - The average reduction for South Asia was 10% and North America 2%.
  • Middle East and North Africa do better, with a reduction of 4%.
  • This is better compared to Europe and Central Asia with a reduction of 5%.
  • The economic impact of stunting was not limited to Asia and Africa.
  • Stunting has affected almost all continents in varying amounts.
  • But Indians lost more income than people, on average, from Sub-Saharan African countries.
  • Notably, countries poorer than India have handled stunting better.
  • E.g. Senegal, with a per capita GDP of half as that of India’s, was able to reduce stunting in its children by half over 19 years to 2012.
  • Peru, too, demonstrated a remarkable decline in its childhood stunting characteristics.
  • This was largely due to its nutrition, health and sanitation interventions.
  • Returns - The World Bank report calculated that the returns on a national nutrition package outweigh the costs.
  • This is in reference to interventions focussed mainly on maternal and neonatal health.
  • But given the time lag between childhood and joining workforce, the effects begin to show only 15 years after implementation.
  • After the initial 15 years, the cost remains static and the benefits continue to increase as more of the workforce begins to benefit.
  • The average rate of return predicted for the programme was 17%.
  • But for India the returns were forecast at 23%.

What is the current scenario?

  • The percentage of childhood stunting in India’s current working-age population does not reflect the percentage of children currently stunted.
  • This is given the gap between childhood and joining the workforce.
  • Notably, the current number of stunted under-five children in India has reduced drastically.
  • Over 26 years to 2014, the percentage of stunted Indian under-five children has reduced from around 62% to 38%.

What are the causes for India's state?

  • Stunting is affected by a variety of socio-economic determinants.
  • More than the economic development state, it reflects the treatment of women and children.
  • The related causes for stunting lie in social inequity with women’s status and health, household wealth, access to services, etc.
  • India clearly has inadequacies in women’s well-being and efforts to reduce poverty.
  • The two most influential deciding factors are women’s BMI and women’s education.
  • These factors explained the difference in child stunting between highly sensitive and less sensitive districts.

What lies ahead?

  • In India, Integrated Child Development Services, PDS and mid-day meal schemes address children’s nutrition.
  • The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the National Rural Water Drinking Programme address sanitation needs.
  • Despite these, improving women’s well-being remains a challenge for policy.
  • A nutrition-specific national programme could significantly tackle stunting.
  • The National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyan) should thus be promoted to address nutritional gaps for women.
  • There has to be a specific focus in the lower income brackets if stunting is to be truly eradicated.

 

Source: Business Standard, Financial Express

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