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Divya Santhanam, Senior State Program Manager, Population Foundation of India, talks about early pregnancies that put Poshan at risk in adolescents
National Nutrition Week is held in India from September 1-7 each year to raise public awareness of nutrition and healthy eating. In addition to raising awareness, however, it is also crucial to ensure adequate and equal access to food for all citizens.
Factors such as the ongoing pandemic, the associated financial difficulties and a significant rise in food prices have adversely affected communities, especially in rural areas, adding to food and nutrition inequality.
The theme of the National Nutrition Week 2021 is “Eating smartly from the start”, which is an extremely critical part of the work of grassroots organizations. Be it through campaigns to promote breastfeeding or community education and challenging gender norms to bridge the gender gap and treat sons and daughters equally when it comes to nutrition and education, the message is: started well is half done. In other words, if we care for the nutritional needs of our children from birth through adolescence, they will grow into healthy and confident adults.
Unequal gender norms push girls at risk into early marriage, unwanted pregnancies and a vicious cycle of malnutrition and impaired reproductive health. These disadvantaged girls are more likely to suffer from anemia and malnutrition than girls who get married later in life. Poor health outcomes as a result of a teenage pregnancy are also detrimental to both mother and child for the rest of their lives. Therefore, addressing this issue is critical to breaking the debilitating and vicious cycle of intergenerational malnutrition.
We have also identified a direct link between teenage pregnancies and malnutrition in mothers and their babies through the community-based work of the Population Foundation of India in reproductive health and family planning. Child marriages not only lead to unwanted pregnancies, but also to high mortality rates and poor nutrition in mothers and infants. Reducing unwanted pregnancies in adolescents, on the other hand, gives them time to reach educational and developmental milestones. Young girls who have access to education also have more freedom of choice about their bodies and their life choices.
However, this cannot be achieved without the synergy between state and private actors, political decision-makers and grassroots organizations. By working together at all levels, we can fight malnutrition.
Malnutrition and chronic diseases are mainly caused by malnutrition. In particular, child and youth malnutrition is an ingrained problem that continues to challenge the nation. The first National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in 1992-1993 found India to be one of the worst performing countries on child health indicators, and while overall rates have gradually improved, there is still much to be done. According to the comprehensive 2019 National Nutrition Survey Report, 33.4% of children under the age of five are underweight and 40% are anemic. Similarly, among adolescents aged 10-19 years, 28.4% are anemic. The World Hunger Index (2020), for example, ranks India 94th out of 107 countries.
However, there is hope that with proactive measures and adequate infrastructure, we can finally change this narrative. To address the malnutrition problem at the macro level, we need to focus on the allocation of funds, as many reports have noted that in the Union budget for 2021-22, the allocation to child nutrition is only around 0.57 per cent[1].
To break this cycle of ill health, we should weigh up our efforts to provide effective and accessible health care and infrastructure to our youth and adolescents, even in the most remote areas. In parallel, we need to promote health-conscious behavior within communities by using social and behavior change tools and campaigns, and above all by providing comprehensive health education. With the equitable dissemination of information and health services, we will be able to improve the overall health of our youth and ensure a bright future for them and the nation at large.
[1] https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/health/child-malnutrition-in-india-a-systemic-failure-76507
