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Global Hunger Index Doesn’t Really Measure Hunger: ICMR

The expert committee of the ICMR said that the indicators of undernourishment, stunting, wasting and child mortality do not measure hunger per se as these are not the manifestations of hunger alone

ग्लोबल हंगर इंडेक्स 2022 में भारत 107वें स्थान पर
According to the Global Hunger Index, India is ranked 107 among 121 countries

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that the Global Hunger Index (GHI) does not really measure hunger. The expert committee of the ICMR said that the indicators of undernourishment, stunting, wasting and child mortality do not measure hunger per se as these are not the manifestations of hunger alone. The report from the committee also said many of the measures that are used to evolve an index that measures hunger was probably contextual. The panel claimed that GHI exaggerates the measure of hunger, lacks statistical vigour, has a problem on multiple counts, and gives higher representation to under-five children.

Also Read: India Ranks 107 On Global Hunger Index 2022, Government Calls It An ‘Erroneous’ Measure

According to the Global Hunger Index, India is ranked 107 among 121 countries. India has been ranked behind all South Asian countries except Afghanistan, behind its neighbours Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The latest edition by two NGOs — Concern Worldwide (Ireland) and Welthungerhilfe (Germany) — was said to be published to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels.

The panel said that undernourishment, stunting, wasting and child mortality are not the consequences of hunger alone, as these manifestations are seen among the relatively rich as well. According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-2015-16 & National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the measured proportions of undernourishment, stunted and wasted children in the two wealth quantiles (4th and 5th) were 7.3, 25.7 and 18.6 per cent, respectively, while the under-five mortality per 1,000 live births was 25.8.

According to the NFHS-4 data, stunting (27.1-38.2 per cent) and wasting (14.2-20.4 per cent) were significantly prevalent among children of normal body mass index and overweight mothers.

Also Read: Global Hunger Index Exaggerates Measure Of Hunger, Has Multiple Problems, Say Health Ministry Sources

The report said the inclusion of stunting as an indicator in GHI has implicit assumption that those who are hungry are likely to be short-statured. This can be contested since child’s height is dependent on both maternal and paternal stature.

According to the statement released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on Saturday, a consistent effort is yet again visible to taint India’s image as a nation that does not fulfil the food security and nutritional requirements of its population. Misinformation seems to be the hallmark of the annually released Global Hunger Index.

The statement added, “The index is an erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues.” It said three out of the four indicators used for the calculation of the index are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population.

The report from the ICMR said that in India, stunting had been declining rapidly even among the underprivileged. Thus, it would not be correct to relate stunting in under-five children with hunger alone.

Also Read: Women’s, Children’s And Adolescents’ Health Has Suffered Globally Due To COVID-19, Climate Change: United Nations

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ populationindigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (WaterSanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollutionwaste managementplastic banmanual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.

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