PM Modi Must Address Severe Child Poverty In His Third Term

By Dr. Gyan Pathak

India, under Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna, has been giving free foodgrains to 80 crore poor people who are dependent for food on government, because they don’t earn enough to support their needs for food. Their number remained the same for the last 10 years of the Modi regime. Children have been facing severe food poverty which Prime Minister Narendra Modi must address urgently in his third term.

India is the 8th worst country in the world in food security and the second worst in South Asia, with only Afghanistan worse off. The 2024 Child Nutrition Report of the UNICEF, titled “Child Food Poverty: Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood”, has found that India is among the 20 countries which account for almost two-thirds (65 percent) of the total number of children living in severe child food poverty. The other 19 countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Coted’Ivorie, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, South Africa, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen.

It is among the first of the six key findings of the report that uncover the scale of severe child food poverty in early childhood globally, the slow progress in lowering severe child food poverty, the presence of severe child food poverty in children living in poor and non-poor households, and how children living in severe child food poverty are missing out on many nutritious foods that are essential to survival, growth and development.

The UNICEF data shows that severe child food poverty in India is 40 per cent, which is in the high category, the seventh in the world in terms of percentage. It should be noted that child food poverty above 30 percent is placed under “high severe child food poverty” category. The seven more worse off countries are Somalia (63 percent), Guinea (54 percent), Guinea-Bissau (53 percent), Afghanistan (49 percent), Sierra Leone (47 percent), Ethiopia 46 percent, and Liberia (43 percent).

Despite PM Modi’s claim that India is 5th largest economy of the world and fastest growing country, he must accept that his data are deceptive and the real picture can be seen in the fact that we are not even able to provide proper food to our children. We are the 8th worst country with 40 percent prevalence of child food poverty.

Further, Modi government must take note of the fact that apart from the 40 percent under severe child food poverty, 36 percent of children are suffering from “Moderate child food poverty.” These add to 76 percent, under moderate and severe child food poverty, making India, the second worst country in South Asia, only after Afghanistan where severe child food poverty is 49 percent and moderate child food poverty is 37 percent. All other countries in South Asia, situation is better off than India.

Globally, one in four children (27 percent) are living in severe child food poverty in early childhood, amounting to 181 million children under 5 years of age. Severe child food poverty affects all regions of the world, but not equally: South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are home to more than two-thirds (68 percent) of the 181 million children living in severe child food poverty.

Globally, progress towards ending severe child food poverty is slow, but some regions and countries are proving that progress is possible and is happening. In the subset of 64 countries with trend data, there was minimal change in the percentage of children living in severe child food poverty during the last decade (34 percent in 2012 to 31 percent in 2022); the prevalence did not change in 32 countries and increased in 11 countries.

However, in West and Central Africa, severe child food poverty fell by one quarter (42 percent to 32 percent). Twenty-one countries – about one in three of the 64 countries with trend data – achieved a significant reduction in severe child food poverty.

Severe child food poverty is experienced by children belonging to poor and non-poor households, indicating that household income is not the only driver of child food poverty. Of the 181 million children living in severe child food poverty, about half (84 million, or 46 percent) belong to households in the two poorest wealth quintiles, among whom limited household income is likely to be a major driver of severe child food poverty. The remaining 97 million children (54 percent) living in severe child food poverty belong to households in the middle and two upper wealth quintiles, among whom factors other than income poverty are driving the problem.

Children living in severe child food poverty are missing out on many nutrient-rich foods, while unhealthy foods are becoming entrenched in their diets. Among children living in severe child food poverty, four out of five are fed only breast milk and/or dairy products and/or a starchy staple, such as rice, maize or wheat. Less than 10 percent are fed fruits and vegetables and less than 5 percent are fed eggs, or meat, poultry and fish.

Meanwhile, unhealthy foods and beverages are consumed by an alarming proportion of children living in severe child food poverty, displacing more nutritious foods from their diets. In Nepal, for example, 42 percent of children living in severe child food poverty consume foods high in sugar, salt and/or fat, and 17 percent consume sweet beverages.

The global food and nutrition crisis and localized conflicts and climatic shocks are intensifying severe child food poverty, especially in fragile and humanitarian settings. Since 2020, the economic fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and localized conflicts and climatic shocks have exacerbated the challenges that parents and families face in feeding their children, chiefly due to lack of money and other resources.

Severe child food poverty is driving child undernutrition: the percentage of children living in severe child food poverty is three times higher in countries with a high prevalence of stunting. Severe child food poverty is associated with child undernutrition. One in three children (32 percent) experience severe child food poverty in countries with a high prevalence of stunting. (IPA Service)

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