Alarming level of severe acute malnutrition in Indian districts

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21878751
AutoresSabu K Ulahannan (0000-0002-7649-4401, Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, autor de correspondencia), Alby Wilson (0000-0001-5624-2365, Institute of Public Health Bengaluru), Deepshikha Chhetri (0000-0002-3798-6243, Government of Haryana), Biju Soman (0000-0003-0748-0839, Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology), Prashanth Nuggehalli Srinivas (0000-0003-0968-0826, Health Equity Cluster, Institute of Public Health, Bangalore, India), NS Prashanth (Institute of Public Health Bengaluru)
Año2022
Volumen7
Número4
Páginase007798
Fecha de publicación2022-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaBMJ Global Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2059-7908 • E-ISSN: 2059-7908
EditorialBMJ (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007798
PMID35450860
OpenAlexW4224222718
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas22

Over the last two decades, severe acute malnutrition (SAM) has been increasing in India despite favourable national-level economic growth. The latest round of the National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS-5) results was released, allowing us to assess changes in the malnutrition trends. Analysis of the previous rounds of the NFHS (NFHS-4) has already shown disturbing levels of wasting, often co-occurring with other forms of anthropometric failures. These have been shown to occur in clusters of districts across India that already needed urgent policy and programmatic action. A rapid assessment of data from NFHS-5 for some of these districts for which data are now available shows an alarming increase in SAM in several malnutrition hotspot districts. Surprisingly, some districts outside hotspots and in states and regions that have previously not been known for high malnutrition too have shown increasing SAM prevalence in the latest round. The data from NFHS-5 was collected just before the COVID-19 pandemic and hence does not yet reflect the likely impact of the pandemic on food security, livelihoods and other social stressors among the most marginalised Indian households. Based on this emerging pattern of increasing SAM, we call for an urgent policy and programmatic action to strengthen the Anganwadi system, which caters to preschool children in India and community-based management of acute malnutrition based on recent evidence on their effectiveness

Agriculture · Anthropometry · Disease · Economic growth · Environmental health · Food security · Geography · Livelihood · Malnutrition · Pandemic · Socioeconomics · Wasting · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Medicine · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare