Poshan Power note Strengthening the Evidence Base through the Comprehensive National Survey
Prevalence and Burden of Malnutrition in Children Under Five Years Old in India, NAFS-5I, (2019–21)
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Highlights
Good health, nutrition and wellbeing throughout the life cycle are precursors to a healthy and productive life. India faces a triple burden of malnutrition in terms of micronutrient deficiencies, undernutrition and quickly rising overnutrition rates in children under five years old.
Going beyond children, unmet nutrient and energy needs during late childhood and early adolescence can increase vulnerability to undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, while excess intake can lead to overweight, obesity, and an increased risk of non-communicable diseases. In India, 561 million children and adolescents, aged 5–19 years, constitute almost one-third of the total population (28.5 per cent) and require policy and programme investments to generate economic and social returns.
Before 2016, adequate, comprehensive and reliable national data on all-aged children and adolescents’ nutrition to inform policymakers was limited to the following aspects:
- The age groups covered in various national surveys were usually women, children under 5 years of age, and adolescents aged 15–19. The age group between 5 and 14 years was missing.
- The types of micronutrients assessed in surveys were limited to Iron and Iodine.
- The methodology lacked precision – use of surrogate measures for a condition, crude estimations based on recalled dietary intakes, sampling bias, and use of different methods made comparison across surveys challenging.
- Information on nutrition-related risk factors for non-communicable diseases was missing.
