208.6 million Indians undernourished in 2018-2020, says new UN report

A multi-agency United Nations report has said that world hunger and malnutrition levels worsened dramatically last year, a first-of-its-kind global assessment in the pandemic era has revealed.

The report, jointly published by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN World Food Programme and the World Health Organization, noted that around a tenth of the global population of around 811 million people were undernourished last year.

Highlights of 'The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World' report:

* More than half of all undernourished people -- over 418 million -- live in Asia while more than a third -- over 282 million reside in Africa. A smaller proportion of over 60 million undernourished people live in Latin America and the Caribbean.

* Over 30 per cent of the global population, or 2.3 billion people, lacked year-round access to adequate food in 2020. 

* Based on the prevailing trends, the sustainable development goal of achieving zero hunger by 2030 is likely to be missed by a margin of up to 660 million people. Out of these, some 30 million may be linked to the pandemic's lasting effects.

What the report said about India

* The report noted that in 2020, chronic undernutrition was reported among 20.1 million (30.9%) Indian children aged under five years. The same figure stood at 41.7% in 2012. The report further said that in 2020, wasting (inadequate nutrition) was reported among 36.1 million (17.3%) children in the same age group.

* In terms of proportion, 187.3 million (53%) of women of reproductive age were found to be suffering from anaemia in 2019.

* The report informed that 208.6 million people were undernourished in India between 2018-2020 compared to 247.8 million in 2004-2006.

* India has a robust monitoring mechanism in place from the outset to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing. These mechanisms authorize consumer organizations to report violations, which the authorities are obliged to investigate.

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