NUTRITION CHALLENGES IN INDIA

1. NUTRITION CHALLENGES IN
INDIA
Harsha Hirdyani
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Food Technology and
Nutrition
Lovely Professional University

2. India - officially the Republic of India (Bharat
Ganrajya) is a country in South Asia.
• The seventh-largest country by area
• Second-most populous country
with over 1.2 billion people
• Most populous democracy
in the world.
• 29 states and 7 union territories
• Agriculture is India's biggest economic sector and employed
52.1% of total work force in 2009-10

5. NUTRITION AND DIETETICS

6. In India a total of “Sixty eight” University and Colleges offer
degree in Nutrition.
These institutions offer diverse courses on this subject.
Such courses range from:
 Diploma to certificate
 Under graduate to post graduate level of education.

7. Courses offered in India
• Food and Nutrition
• Nutrition and Dietetics
• Applied Nutrition
• Food, Nutrition and Dietetics
• Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics
• Dietetics and Catering Management
• Nutrition and Health Education
• Nutrition and Child care
• Applied Nutrition and Dietetics
• Food and Nutrition
UG and PG
courses
Certificate
and Diploma

8. Application of Nutrition and Dietetics
 Administrative dietitians
 Clinical dietitians
 Research dietitians
 Food service dietitians
 Gerontological, neonatal and pediatric dietitians
• Education field
• Food services
• Institutional catering
• Research and development
• Social welfare
• Health care

9. NUTRITION SCENARIO OF INDIA

10. Malnutrition and
pellagra were
endemic
Increased population
– food scarcity
Severe malnutrition
virtually
disappeared
Green Revolution
– India became
self sufficient
Decline in chronic
malnutrition was
slow
The past seven decades have seen remarkable
shifts in the nutritional scenario in India
1950’s
1970’s

11. 1970 – 1990
Steady urban
migration
Upward mobility
out of poverty
Increasingly
sedentary
lifestyle
Obesity
Malnutrition
The double burden of malnutrition

12. “Double burden" of malnutrition
1990 – Present
The persistence of undernutrition, especially among
children, along with a rapid rise in overweight, obesity
and diet-related chronic diseases...
42 percent of Indian children are
underweight

13. HEALTH PROBLEMS IN INDIA

14. Community diagnosis
Refers to the assessment of health status & health problems to
design health services.
Components indicative of health problems:
• Morbidity & mortality statistics.
• Demographic conditions of the population.
• Environmental factors influencing health.
• Socio – Economic factors influencing health.
• Culture & its components.
• Medical & Health services available.

15. Health problems in India
•Communicable diseases
•Nutritional problems
•Environmental sanitation problems
•Medical care problems.
•Population problems

17. High risk groups
 Pregnant women
 Lactating women
 Infants
 Preschool children
 Adolescent girls
 Elderly
 Socially deprived

18. NUTRITIONAL
PROBLEMS IN INDIA

19. Nutritional problems in India
 Malnutrition
 Low birth weight
 Xerophthalmia
 Nutritional anemia
 Iodine deficiency disorders
 Fluorosis
 Lathyrism
 Obesity
 CVDs

20. Indian Scenario – Fact file
• In India 20 per cent of children under five years of age suffer from
wasting due to acute undernutrition.
• More than one third of the world’s children who are wasted live in
India.
• India has the highest number of low birth weight babies per year at
an estimated 7.4 million
• Forty three per cent of Indian children under five years are
underweight and 48 per cent (i.e. 61 million children) are stunted
due to chronic undernutrition.
• India accounts for more than 3 out of every 10 stunted children in
the world.

21. Determinants of Malnutrition
 Maternal malnutrition
 Low birth weight
 Faulty child feeding practices
 Dietary inadequacy
 Frequent infections
 Large families
 High female illiteracy
 Taboos and superstitions

22. Undernutrition Among Children
Under Five Years
4
7
16
19
20
22
26
29
32
36
39
41
44
45
46
48
DR 2007
Swaziland 2006-07
Zimbabwe 2005-06
Cameroon 2004
Kenya 2003
Malawi 2004
Guinea 2005
Nigeria 2003
Mali 2006
Cambodia 2005-06
Ethiopia 2005
Madagascar 2003-4
Niger 2006
Nepal 2006
Bangladesh 2007
India 2005-06
Prevalence of under-
weight is higher in India
than in any of the other
40 countries with DHS
surveys in the last 5
years.
Percent underweight (NCHS/WHO Growth Reference)

25. Malnutrition is often referred as “Indian Enigma”
Assistant Professor in Environmental Health
Sciences, Andrew Jones, talks about malnutrition
in children and the "Indian Enigma.“

26. HEALTH CARE
SYSTEM IN INDIA

27. The health care system of India
“Structure of the country’s pattern of delivery of the health services”
•The health care system operates within the context of socio-
economic & political framework of the country.
•Healthcare has emerged as one of the largest service sectors in
India.
•There are 12,760 hospitals having 5,76,793 beds in the country
•There were 148,124 sub-centers, 23,887 PHCs and 4,809 CHCs as
per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India,
2011
•Rather than dynamic, it is constantly developing.

28. The health care system of India
Public Health Sector
Private Sector
Indigenous System Of Medicine
Voluntary Health Agencies
National Health Programmes
HCS

29. 1. Public health sector
•Hospitals and health centers
•Primary health care
•Sub centers and dispensaries
•Defense services, Railways.
•Community Health Centers.
•Rural Hospitals.
•District Hosp.
•Specialist Hosp.
•Teaching Hosp.

30. 2. Private sector
• Private Hospital, Nursing Homes,& Dispensaries.
• General Practitioners & Clinics.
3. Indigenous system of medicine.
• Ayurveda.
• Homeopathy.
• Unregistered Practitioners.
4. Voluntary health agencies
5. National health programmes.

31.  Médecins Sans Frontières is an international,
independent organisation for medical
humanitarian aid
 Experiences of MSF (Doctors without borders) in
India