Ensuring nutrition security: what the government can do

Abstract

In 2012, India lost over $12 billion in GDP to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Scaling up core micronutrient interventions would cost less than $574 million per year, the World Bank says. India is home to over 1.3 billion people which accounts for 17.6 percent of the global population. As a developing country with a large population, India is facing the challenge of ‘nutrition security’ or provision of the right and balanced diet to its citizens. Several studies have shown that Indian consumers are falling short of their daily calorie requirement which increases the likelihood of diseases. For example, a survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) on Nutritional Intake in India (2011-12) found that, since the year 2000, there has been a sharp decline in calorie intake in both urban and rural India resulting in low nutrition levels. The survey found that on an average, fruits and vegetables contributed only around 9 percent of the calorie intake. A pioneering study by the World Health Organization (WHO) panel on diet, nutrition and prevention of chronic diseases recommended an intake of at least 400 grams or five daily servings of fruits and vegetables (excluding potatoes, cassava and other starchy tubers) with an average serving size of 80 grams, to prevent diet-related chronic diseases and micronutrient deficiencies. Read more at: https://www.forbesindia.com/article/iim-bangalore/ensuring-nutrition-security-what-the-government-can-do/48105/1