Nourishing Change: Understanding Nutrition Gap in Indian Women

Food is the mother of all necessities. It is the simple foundation of human existence necessary for physical and mental development. Thus, it becomes imperative that nutrition is proper and adequate in every human being. In the light of this, it is mentionable that a United Nations’ Data has disclosed that 1/3 of the global malnutrition is taken care of by India, where the spotlight has been clinched by women’s and children’s nutrition. This throws light on the implications of overall social development of malnutrition in these sectors of the nation.

Standards in Judging India’s Nutritional Profile

How do you judge India’s nutritional profile and conclude that she is not a nutrition-deficient country, especially in the women’s segment? Here are some standards that will define India’s nutritional standards:

•       The reduction in anaemia in women of the reproductive age by 50%
•       Reduction in birth weight by 30%
•       50% increase in exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months after birth
•       Stunted growth among children under 5 by 40%
•       Reduction and maintenance of childhood wastage by at least 5%
•       No increase in childhood obesity

Once these factors in women's health are considered, you will notice that it is all related to women's nutrition. And if women's nutrition is properly taken care of, an entire nation benefits from it.

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Women’s Nutritional Conditions in India

Women’s nutrition occupies the uppermost concern of any nation. Healthy women can raise a healthy nation. Their malnutrition not only is a concern for them alone, but also gives rise to serious complications for an entire nation in the long run as child bearers and primary caretakers in a family.

Once you rise an ill-nourished baby girl into an adolescent and finally into an unhealthy adult, you lead on to intergenerational cycles of malnourishment. An undernourished mother will give birth to low-birth-weight babies. Such conditions can lead to child mortality, stunting, wasting, low immunity, risk of infections and a whole lot of other morbidities.

Reasons for Nutritional Deficiencies in Indian Women

Indian women are way more undernourished than men is a well-known fact. But have you ever spared a thought for its causes? They are actually serious issues that should be dealt with on an urgent basis. Nutritional deficiencies in women are due to the reasons mentioned below:

•       Women’s reproductive biology
•       Low social status
•       Poverty
•       Lack of education
•       Household work patterns
•       Anaemia
•       Gender inequality

Nutritional Deficiencies in Indian Women

Now let us discuss the nutritional deficiencies in women that lead to a nutrition-deficient nation in the years to come.  They may be:

•       Anaemia and iron deficiency which is lack of iron to produce haemoglobin
•       Iodine deficiency results in thyroid gland swelling
•       Vitamin A deficiency which affects the immune system
•       Folate and Vitamin B deficiencies lead to neural tube defects and neurological developments

These deficiencies can lead to some very serious conditions like low birth weight. Overall, it leads to a nation that is nutrition-deficient. It is a toll on the nation as a whole.

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