Global Nutrition report 2021

Context:

The Global Nutrition Report, 2021 (GNR) has been released recently.

Global Nutrition report 2021

• According to the Global Nutrition Report 2021 (GNR-2021) India has made no progress on anaemia and childhood wasting
• India made no progress or said to be worsening with regards to reducing anaemia. The country featured among the 161 countries documented in the report
• according to the report Over half of Indian women in the age group 15-49 years are anaemic,
• There has been a rise in anaemic Indian women since 2016.
  • In 2016, 52.6 per cent of Indian women were anaemic.
  • But in 2020, 53 per cent were found to be anaemic.
• India is also among 23 countries that have made no progress or are worsening on reducing ‘childhood wasting’. 
  • Wasting refers to children whose weight is low-for-their height.
• Over 17 per cent of Indian children under 5 years of age are affected.
  • This figure is much higher than the average for Asia where close to 9 per cent children are affected.  
• According to the report India is ‘off-course’ in meeting 7 of the 13 global nutrition targets,
  • These include sodium intake,
  • raised blood pressure (both men and women),
  • obesity (both men and women) and
  • diabetes (both men and women).
• Some 6.2 per cent of adult (aged 18 years and over) women and 3.5 per cent of adult men are living with obesity in the country.
• No country in the world was ‘on course’ to achieve the target for obesity, the report said.
• India is among 53 countries ‘on course’ to meet the target for stunting
  • But over 34 per cent of children under 5 years of age are still affected, it added.
  • This figure is higher than average for Asia, where close to 22 per cent are affected by stunting.
• The country is also among 105 countries that are ‘on course’ to meet the target for ‘childhood overweight’ and among 53 countries ‘on course’ to meet the target for ‘exclusive breast feeding’.
  • Some 58 per cent of infants in the age group 0-5 months are exclusively breastfed in India.
• According to the report India does not have adequate data on prevalence of ‘low birth weight’,
• The annual Global Nutrition Report annual report sets out progress towards global nutrition targets.
• It also evaluates the impact of poor diets on human health and the planet, assesses the nutrition financing landscape and provides a comprehensive overview of reporting on past Nutrition for Growth commitments.

About the report-

• The annual Global Nutrition Report annual report sets out progress towards global nutrition targets.
• It also evaluates the impact of poor diets on human health and the planet, assesses the nutrition financing landscape and provides a comprehensive overview of reporting on past Nutrition for Growth commitments.
• The Global Nutrition Report was conceived following the first Nutrition for Growth Initiative Summit (N4G) in 2013 as a mechanism for tracking the commitments made by 100 stakeholders spanning governments, aid donors, civil society, the UN and businesses.
• As per the GNR, as many as 12 million people died prematurely in 2018 due to risks linked to consumption of an imbalanced and unhealthy diet. 
• These risks included non-communicable diseases (NCD).  
• The increase of premature deaths due to poor diets was the highest in Africa (22 per cent), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (8 per cent). 
• Tobacco smoking is said to the leading cause of preventable deaths in the world. But recent estimates indicate that unbalanced diet has superseded tobacco smoking as the leading cause of premature deaths in the world.
• The report says that the world is off track to meet five out of six global maternal, infant and young children nutrition (MIYCN) targets, on stunting, wasting, low birth weight, anaemia and childhood obesity.
• Worldwide, 149.2 million children under 5 years of age are stunted, 45.4 million are wasted and 38.9 million are overweight. Over 40% of all men and women (2.2 billion people) are now overweight or obese.
• In fact, no country in the world was ‘on course’ to achieve the target for obesity.

Suggestions:

• Increase Finance:
  • There needs to be a step-change in efforts and financial investments to end poor diets and malnutrition.
  • Holistic Approach:
    • Poor diets and malnutrition should be addressed holistically and sustainably to create a healthy future for all.
  • Accountability and Monitoring:
    • Better data, greater accountability and systematic monitoring are key to identify the progress needed.

Global Nutrition Report

• It was conceived following the first Nutrition for Growth Initiative Summit (N4G) in 2013.
• The first report was published in 2014.
• It acts as a report card on the world’s nutrition—globally, regionally, and country by country—and on efforts to improve it.
• It is a multi-stakeholder initiative, consisting of a Stakeholder Group, Independent Expert Group and Report Secretariat.

Source: DTE

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