Indian children are very short, on average, compared with children living in other countries. Because height reflects early life health and net nutrition, and because good early life health also helps brains to grow and capabilities to develop, widespread growth faltering is a human development disaster. Panagariya acknowledges these facts, but argues that Indian children are particularly short because they are genetically programmed to be so. In consequence, the higher prevalence of stunting among Indian children than among children in much poorer countries in Sub-Saharan Africa comes from using inappropriate common standards, and is not in itself a concern. However, Panagariya does little more than assert this conclusion, disregarding the long-held general understanding among nutritionists and economists, as well as important facts and theories in the literature.
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