“WE KNOW THAT A PEACEFUL WORLD CANNOT LONG EXIST , ONE THIRD RICH AND TWO THIRD HUNGRY. ,,

PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER

Malnutrition in India: States where malnutrition is prominent
i. Uttar Pradesh : Most children here, in India’s densest state by population, under the age of 5 are stunted due to malnutrition.

ii. Tamil Nadu: The state, despite high education, has a prominent child malnutrition problem.  A National Family Health Survey reveals that 23% of children here are underweight, while 25% of Chennai children show moderately stunted growth.

iii. Madhya Pradesh: 2015 data reveals that Madhya Pradesh has India’s highest number of malnourished children – 74.1% of them under 6 suffer from anaemia, and 60% have to deal with malnutrition.

iv. Jharkhand and Bihar: At 56.5%, Jharkhand has India’s second highest number of malnourished children. This is followed by Bihar, at 55.9%.

“Most of the seven billion people in this world suffer from malnutrition. Half do not have enough to eat and the rest of us eat too much.”

Earle Gray

Do you know fifteen percent of the Indian population every night sleeps hungry? This week India Loud and Clear talks about the issues of Food crisis. The issue which hardly finds its place in media reports, Prime-time or in sensational or breaking news.194 million Indians are undernourished. Recently out of 117 countries, India ranked at 104 at the Global Hunger Index.25% of all hungry people worldwide live in India. Since 1990 there has been some improvements for children but the proportion of hungry in the population has increased. In India 44% of children under the age of 5 are underweight. 72% of infants and 52% of married women have anaemia.

“There’s no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were.,,

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Child hunger

• Undernutritition causes 45% of child deaths, resulting in 3.1 million deaths annually
• Undernutrition during pregnancy and the first two years of life is major determinant of stunted growth and chronic diseases in adulthood
• There are 165 million stunted children in the world
• Stunted children have compromised cognitive development and physical capabilities
• 80% of the world’s stunted children live in 20 countries
• Poor quality and volume of breastfeeding results in over 800,000 child deaths annually

Sources: The Lancet, World Food Programme

“RESPECT FOR FOOD IS A RESPECT FOR LIFE,FOR WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO,,

THOMAS KELLER

Wastage of food is not only indicative of hunger, climate change or pollution, but also of many other economic pitfalls in the economy, such as inflation. It is the responsibility of each and every person to understand the importance of food and to try and reduce food wastage as much as possible.At the individual level, following steps can be taken to avoid food wastage:

• Store foods carefully
• Donate accumulated food
• Freeze food
• Use Old Fruits & Veggies: Rather than tossing fruits and veggies that are about to spoil, use them to create fruit salads, smoothies, and more
• Eat leftovers