Global Nutrition Report 2017: 51% of women anaemic, 38% Kids under 5 stunted, 22% women obese

The Global Nutrition Report 2017 has highlighted India's serious burden of malnutrition. The report showed that more than half the women of reproductive age in the country suffer from anaemia.

As per the data released by the report, 38 percent of children under five are affected by stunting - children too short for their age due to lack of nutrients, suffering irreversible damage to brain capacity.

Not only this, under the report, 21 percent of children under 5 are described as 'wasted' or 'severely wasted' which means that they do not weigh enough for their height.

The report has also put the light on the deteriorating conditions of women in India revealing that Over half of women of reproductive age - 51 percent - suffer from anaemia. 

Anaemia is a serious condition that can have long-term health impacts for mother and child.The Global nutrition report 2017 also highlighted that more than 22 percent of adult women are overweight, a rising concern as women are disproportionately affected by the global obesity epidemic.

In India, 16 percent of adult men and 22 percent of adult women are overweight. 

The reports also discussed the progress of the country in which it said that India has shown some progress in addressing under- 5 stunting but unable to find a solution to better the percentage of reproductive-age women with anaemia, and is off course in terms of reaching targets for reducing adult obesity and diabetes.

"The Global Nutrition Report highlights that the double burden of undernutrition and obesity needs to be tackled as part of India's national nutrition strategy," said Purnima Menon, an independent expert group on the Global Nutrition Report.

"For undernutrition, especially, major efforts are needed to close the inequality gap," said Menon, Senior Research Fellow in the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)'s South Asia Office in New Delhi.

"We know that a well-nourished child is one third more likely to escape poverty," said Jessica Fanzo, Professor at Johns Hopkins University.

"They will learn better in school, be healthier and grow into productive contributors to their economies. Good nutrition provides the brainpower, the 'grey matter infrastructure' to build the economies of the future," said Fanzo, also the Global Nutrition Report Co-Chair.

India is not alone on the list, the report also found that 88 percent of countries studied face a serious burden of two or three forms of malnutrition.

It highlighted the damaging impact this burden is having on broader global development efforts.The cases of overweight and obesity are on the surge in almost every country with two billion of the world's seven billion people now overweight or obese and a less than one percent chance of meeting the global target of halting the rise in obesity and diabetes by 2025, the report highlighted.