The weak link in India’s growth chain

Nutritional deficiency will not let Indians prosper in a highly competitive world. It will restrict people’s physical and mental ability to achieve excellence; it will reduce productivity hours, and cause untimely deaths and diseases. Though various governments from time to time have launched several schemes to address the issue of nutrition deficit, its root causes have often been ignored, which may lead to serious economic and human resources crises.

The new World Bank report, ‘The Crisis of Malnutrition in India’, states that malnutrition costs the country at least $10 billion annually in terms of lost productivity, illness, and death. It is seriously retarding improvements in human development and further reduction of childhood mortality. “Malnutrition remains a silent emergency in India where more than half of all children under the age of four are malnourished, 30 per cent of newborns are significantly underweight, and 60 per cent of women are anaemic,” it says. The burden of malnutrition will be too heavy since India is the most populous country in the world.

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According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21, India has seen no significant improvement in the health and nutritional status of its population. The latest data shows that 7.7 per cent of children are severely wasted, 19.3 per cent are wasted and 35.5 per cent are stunted. Anaemia among children under 5 years has become significantly worse with the current prevalence at 67.1 per cent compared to 58.6 per cent according to NFHS-4. Almost 57 per cent of women of reproductive age in the country are anaemic.

India’s lacklustre performance in the Olympic games is also rooted in the nutrition deficiency among people. The world’s most populous country has won only 35 medals in the last 25 Olympic games since 1900. India has not qualified for the FIFA World Cup since 1950. Public and private investment in sports, foreign coaches, infrastructures and training cannot win medals unless athletes have the basics: raw physical strength, stamina, willpower and a killer instinct. The majority of Olympic medal winners from India though belong to poor families in backward regions; the tough natural environment and nutrition-rich local foods available in their villages provided them with the much-needed strength, stamina and willpower. K D Jadhav, Karnam Malleswari, Sushil Kumar, Mary Kom, Lovlina Borgohain, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Mirabai Chanu proved that tough life and nutrition-rich native foods contributed to their success. The majority of hockey players who won Olympic gold medals belonged to poor and backward districts.

In the past centuries, there has been ample evidence of India’s phenomenal success in global trade, literature, art, architecture, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, science and agriculture. India was a treasure trove of nutrition-rich food, giving Indians enormous physical and mental strength to achieve incredible feats. Interestingly, past achievements do not inspire the present generation much. “There is not a single invention from India in the last 60 years that has become a household name globally,” said IT icon Narayana Murthy. India has not produced an idea that led to an earth-shaking invention to delight global citizens, he said.

Nutritional deficiency is a stumbling block before India’s all-round progress. “Nearly 47 million, or four out of 10 children, in India do not meet their potential because of chronic undernourishment or stunting, leading to diminished learning capacity,” said the Global Nutrition Report. The Union government’s National Nutrition Mission should necessarily create awareness about local foods; it should focus on research and documentation of native herbs, shrubs, fruits, roots, stems, flowers, food grains, vegetables etc.

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The government should show zero tolerance for food adulteration as it leads to premature deaths and diseases. It also erodes people’s income. Take, for instance, essential nutrition sources like milk, edible oil, honey, flour and other foods in malls and kirana shops. The majority of these products lack quality, but people buy them because there is no alternative. Seasonal native fruits are no longer available in plenty; processed foods based on a few crops dominate the supply chain. Though awareness about nutrition-rich local food is growing among urbanites, it faces supply-side constraints. Educated people in urban areas have started buying milk directly from milkmen instead of buying milk packets.

People look for native food grains, spices and herbs at tribal fairs. Locally-grown pulses, tamarind, turmeric of Rayagada, Suan rice, honey and gur of Koraput, Pimpudibasa rice, flaxseed and black rice of Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha attract a large number of buyers as these products have taste, aroma, nutrition and medicinal qualities. Every Indian state has dozens of vital crops. Unfortunately, there has been little research on these crops and no effort to popularise them. Our celebrities should come forward to advertise native foods. India can become a Vishwa Guru if it tackles its age-old nutrition deficits.