Alarming level of severe acute malnutrition in Indian districts

Abstract

Over the last two decades, severe acute malnutrition (SAM) has been increasing in India despite favourable national-level economic growth. The latest round of the National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS-5) results was released, allowing us to assess changes in the malnutrition trends. Analysis of the previous rounds of the NFHS (NFHS-4) has already shown disturbing levels of wasting, often co-occurring with other forms of anthropometric failures. These have been shown to occur in clusters of districts across India that already needed urgent policy and programmatic action. A rapid assessment of data from NFHS-5 for some of these districts for which data are now available shows an alarming increase in SAM in several malnutrition hotspot districts. Surprisingly, some districts outside hotspots and in states and regions that have previously not been known for high malnutrition too have shown increasing SAM prevalence in the latest round. The data from NFHS-5 was collected just before the COVID-19 pandemic and hence does not yet reflect the likely impact of the pandemic on food security, livelihoods and other social stressors among the most marginalised Indian households. Based on this emerging pattern of increasing SAM, we call for an urgent policy and programmatic action to strengthen the Anganwadi system, which caters to preschool children in India and community-based management of acute malnutrition based on recent evidence on their effectiveness.

Secular trends and sociodemographic determinants of thinness, overweight and obesity among Chinese children and adolescents aged 7–18 years from 2010 to 2018

“…By age categories, there were no significant trends in the prevalence of thinness in children aged 7-9 years and adolescents aged 16-18 years (except for boys as defined by the WHO). Overall, the prevalence of thinness among Chinese children and adolescents aged [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] According to the number of individuals living in the family, family size was classified as small (≤3), medium (4-6) and large (≥7). boys, PR = 1.030, 95% CI, 1.010-1.050; girls, PR = 1.044, 95% CI, 1.020-1.069; China criteria: girls, PR = 1.043, 95% CI, 1.014-1.073) increased significantly, all of which were statistically significant.…”

“…Therefore, attention to the nutritional statuses of school-aged children and adolescents and the imposition of appropriate interventions are essential for their healthy transition to adulthood. Thinness was associated with premature mortality, physical suboptimal health, impaired neurocognitive function, and low productivity ( 9 – 11 ), and mortality and morbidity were 9–11 times higher in children with severe malnutrition than in well-nourished children ( 12 ); obesity in children and adolescents was associated with the development of ischemic heart disease ( 13 ), type II diabetes, respiratory disease, and psychological and social problems ( 14 , 15 ) and had a strong tracking effect in adulthood ( 16 ). In addition, lifestyle changes such as less sleep time and physical activity and longer screen time in children and adolescents have been reported worldwide in recent years ( 17 – 20 ) and have played a negative role in the prevention and control of overweight and obesity.…”

Digital health: trends, opportunities and challenges in medical devices, pharma and bio-technology

“…The AMCHSS, the public health division of SCTIMST, was a partner in the customization of the DHIS-2 software for the Indian context, which was piloted in its field practice area in Athiyannur block in Thiruvananthapuram. This led to many field-based research initiatives on digital health, spanning from its use in infectious diseases [119][120][121][122] to non-communicable diseases [123][124][125]. In recent times AMCHSS is moving ahead with infectious disease modeling and the use of data science approaches to large-scale data [126][127][128][129][130].…”

Outcome after Discharge from Hospital of Children with Complicated Severe Acute Malnutrition and Predictors Factors of Non-Response during Outpatient Treatment, in Senegal

“…The risk of death is 9 to 11 times higher in severe acute malnutrition. However, most deaths occur in children with mild to moderate malnutrition [5] [6]. Malnutrition is implicated in approximately 45% of deaths in children under 5 years of age, accounting for more than 3 million deaths per year [7].…”