In India, just 9.6 percent of all children between 6 and 23 months of age are fed a minimum acceptable diet, a global report said
India has slipped from 95th rank in 2010 to 102nd in 2019 on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), with the increase in prevalence of wasting (low weight for height) among children under five contributing the most to the country’s poor performance.
Over a longer-term horizon, the fall in India’s rank is sharper: From 83rd out of 113 countries in 2000 to 102nd out of 117 now. The improvement in India’s GHI score, too, has decelerated. The improvement from 38.9 in 2005 to 32 in 2010 was followed by a change from 32 to 30.3 between 2010 and 2019.
Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores less than five. Countries such as Ethiopia and Rwanda have shown notable progress, the GHI report said.
The share of wasting among children in India rose from 16.5 per cent in the 2008-2012 period to 20.8 per cent in 2014-2018, according to the report.
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