ZERO HUNGER Vs MALNUTRITION: DOUBLE EDGED SWORDGROUND REALITY BASED ON NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY-V, INDIA

Background: Recently released Global Hunger Index has put India’s effort in the field of nutrition in a conundrum. Despite significant steps taken to improve nutrition, India is grappling with double edged sword of Malnutrition. Malnutrition, under or over, has affected many countries across the globe. Objective: This article explores the ground reality in the meadow of Nutrition status revealed by National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data for 36states/UTs in India. Material and Methods: It explicitly evaluates the success and inadequacies based on parameters and comparing them with NFHS-4 data. The paper takes on the panoramic view of all forms of malnutrition in different sections as well as the various initiatives and existing programs addressing this issue. Findings: Among the 22 states, 16 states recorded an increase in underweight and severely wasted fewer than 5 children, which were surveyed during the first phase of the NFHS -5. The NFHS-5 data again revealed that except for Goa & Diu all the states / UTs have shown an increase in the percentage of overweight children over the past 5 years. Conclusion: We need timely nutritional interventions, full immunization, and supplementation programs. PoshanAbhiyan components should be implemented using Inter sectoral convergence and use of technology (ICT) for better service delivery.