India makes little progress on child malnutrition despite steady economic growth

Poor oversight of nutrition programmes, faulty project design, and a lack of focus on the most needy population groups are frustrating India’s efforts to reduce child malnutrition, a publication from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex has said.

Despite India’s steady economic growth of an average of more than 6% in the past 15 years, the percentage of children under 3 years of age who are underweight fell by only six percentage points between 1993 and 2006, from 52% to 46%, says the latest issue of the IDS Bulletin, which comprises analytical papers from economists and nutrition policy experts.

At this rate of …