42 per cent of Indian children are malnourished

A new study based on a survey of the height and weight of more than one lakh children across six States has found that as many as 42 per cent of under-fives are severely or moderately underweight and that 59 per cent of them suffer from moderate to severe stunting, meaning their height is much lower than the median height-for-age of the reference population.

The findings – contained in the Hunger and Malnutrition (HUNGaMA) report by the Naandi Foundation – were described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “national shame” at a release function here on Tuesday. Despite impressive growth in India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in recent years, the level of under-nutrition is unacceptably high, he said.

With the government already under attack for drafting a weak food security Bill, the latest anthropometric confirmation of the link between poverty, food insecurity and nutrition is likely to increase pressure on the UPA to be more generous with the poor.

The report also found that of the stunted children, about half are severely stunted and about half of all children are underweight or stunted by the time they are two years. However, the number of underweight children has decreased from 53 to 42 per cent in the past seven years – the last study on the subject was done in 2004.

Dr. Singh said, “This 20 per cent decline in malnourishment in the last seven years is better than the rate of decline reported in the National Family Health Survey-III. However, what concerns me is that 42 per cent of our children are still underweight. This is an unacceptably high occurrence.”

Conducted across 112 rural districts, the survey found “positive change for child nutrition in India is happening, including in the 100 Focussed Districts.”

The 100 Focus Districts are located across Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – states which perform the worst on child nutrition.

The survey notes that the prevalence of malnutrition is significantly higher among children from low-income families. It found that children from Muslim or SC/ST households generally had worse nutrition indicators.

Birth weight is an important risk-factor for child malnutrition, says the report.

The prevalence of underweight in children born with a weight below 2.5 kg is 50 per cent, while that among children born with a weight above 2.5 kg is 34 per cent.

The survey found that awareness among mothers about nutrition is low — “92 per cent mothers had never heard the word malnutrition.”

Highlighting the negligence shown towards girl children even in their early childhood, the report says the nutrition advantage girls have over boys in the first months of life seems to be reversed over time as they grow older.

According to the survey, the mothers' education level also determines children's nutrition.

Aravind Kejrival vs Rahul Gandhi.. (We know its's probably too late but it is a must!!)

Who is the leader of youth in India?

ARVIND KEJRIVAL:- Mechanical Engineer -IIT Kharagpur


Job :-Tata Steel
Former IRS (Indian Revenue Services)resigned from the Govt.job (posted IT Commissioner’s office)
Social Activist:-
Man behind (Right to Information Act).
LokPal bill
Awards Various Ashoka Fellow, Civic Engagement.
2005: 'Satyendra Dubey Memorial Award', IIT Kanpur for his campaign for bringing transparency in Government
2006: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership.
2006: CNN-IBN, 'Indian of the Year' in Public Service
2009: Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Kharagpur for Emergent Leadership.
2010: Policy Change Agent of the Year, Economic Times Corporate Excellence Award along with Aruna Roy.
Fighting against corruption
.............He left his job in IRS to fight against corruption.


RAHUL Gandhi:-

Education- failed to secure passing grades in National Economic Planning and Policy graduated by any how

job: Got ancestral political power and running through it.

Award: He is making awards not getting it.

Fight against Indians sentiments.

For him Terror attacks are common thing... we should not be worried of that.....let it happen(since they have z class security)
He will never talk about Govt. policies....and planning....since he is not intelligent enough to grasp that.(claimed to be most eligible to be PM)
Won't talk about black money and corruption.
Will never talk in Parliament.

No political vision and goals for nation .

Trained well to fool poor villagers with safed kurta ..nd khadhi(doing same in UP and other places.)

Achievements:-
Grandson OF Nehru,
Grandson of Indira Gandhi
Son Of Rajiv Gandhi....
FRom Gandhi Family.....
till now zero...

..............Claimed to be nxt PM of INDIA ..Future face of congress.

Still there are differences!

Isnt it just a an act of gaining sympathy? Comment.

75cms - 85 cms is always IMPOSSIBLE!

The minimum physical requirements for the recruitment of a police or army constable/sepoy/havaldar in any state or at national level is not that much demanding.The minimum chest requirement for such posts is about 75 to 80 cms but most of the people fail to fulfill this small criteria to get into the police or army in our country as depicted in the above image.

But what after the recruitment is done and people start serving for the country or the country start serving the people with huge salary, corruption and bribes.The conditions gets worse and worse than ever.You can see an example of some of the police officers after their youth age. Can they really serve the country now? Can they run after a thief/burglar if they catch one? Can they fight a war? Comment!

It happens only in India

Have you ever been in such a situation like this?? Imagine yourself in this kind of situation? What would you do? You will cross the road with the vehicle taking risk or stop by?

If you cross the road it could possibly be a deadly stop but for how much time you are gonna wait to be corrected.Poor traffic system in India is also a major problem faced by the citizens of India, specially in the bigger metro-cities where traffic is much bigger like New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh etc.

A BILLION GO HUNGRY ON WORLD FOOD DAY

One in seven people in the world went hungry on Sunday, which was observed as the World Food Day. Although the world can produce enough food to feed everyone, nearly a billion people ( 100 crores) go hungry every day or eat so little that it could well be called the Global Lack of Nutrition Day.

But for many of the millions going hungry, it is not war or natural disaster that prevents them from having enough to eat but simply not having sufficient money in their pockets.

Worldwide food prices have been high since 2006, when speculation by traders caused staples such as rice to rise by up to 320 per cent in a year. From 2005 to 2008, the worldwide average price of food went up by 80 per cent - and it is still rising. For those whose income was only ever enough to fund their subsistence, it has meant being priced out of life. A study of worldwide food insecurity by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), published last week, estimated that a total of 925 million people were undernourished in 2010, two-thirds of whom lived in just seven countries - Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.

The reports make it quite clear that rising food prices, stock market speculation in crop futures, conflict, climate change and corrupt, repressive regimes are the reasons why so many people go hungry - and not due to humanity's inability to grow enough crops. The findings come three months after the declaration of a major famine in the Horn of Africa, a glaring instance of several of these dreaded factors working at once. Few countries in East Africa are unaffected by the terrible drought in the region, but it is only in Somalia that persistent conflict and a lack of an effective central government have tipped the situation into a full-scale famine. Money has poured in from governments, agencies and individuals, all wanting to help, specially each of the 13 million people at risk of starvation. A lack of proper planning and prevention has once again created a crisis in East Africa, despite many thwarted attempts to break the cycle of famine. Kostas Stamoulis, director of agricultural development economics for the UN, said: "The long-term problem, with nearly a billion people going hungry across the globe, continues to be ignored. Emergencies affect hundreds of thousands of people every year but chronic hunger is a huge problem.". "We can't mobilise food aid to feed nearly one billion - it just isn't feasible."

The UN believes part of the reason for food shortages is a lack of investment in agriculture. In countries in protracted crisis, the FAO report says that only 3-4 per cent of funds for development and humanitarian assistance go towards agriculture. Mr Stamoulis said: "Some 75 per cent of those going hungry are rural people who derive most of their living from agriculture. We have neglected agriculture for too long. For years, people felt the way out of economic difficulties was to industrialise, but that meant agriculture was neglected in terms of research and in terms of rural infrastructure ... If we don't do something now we're going to face even more of these food security crises in the future. If you add in climate change and the fact that natural resources to produce food are declining, we'll be in pretty bad shape."

In Yemen, rising food prices and political instability have put 3.5 million people at risk of starvation. In Afghanistan, three decades of war and instability have had a similar effect. Almost one-third of the population do not have access to enough food to stay healthy. In many countries, humanitarian relief is complicated by politics. The Obama administration was last week accused of dithering over sending food aid to North Korea. A third of all children under five in the Communist country are chronically malnourished but the US says it will not give aid until the state guarantees it will reach the most needy and until there is an improvement in relations with South Korea.

FIGHTING HUNGER

World Food Day is celebrated every year around on October 16. It was on this day in 1945 that the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations came into being.

The aim of the day is to heighten public awareness on the scarcity of food and strengthen movement against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

BY:Emily Dugan & David Randall

Indian PM Manmohan Singh speaks first time on the 2G SCAM!