To tackle nutrition challenges, we must also address sanitation issues

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Context:

A recent UNICEF report stated that nearly 12 lakh children could die in low-income countries in the next six months due to a decrease in routine health services and an increase in wasting. 

• Nearly three lakh such children would be from India — nearly as much as the countrywide death toll from Covid-19. 
• If this challenge has to be mitigated, India must use the pandemic as an opportunity to come up with long-term multi-stakeholder solutions to the problem of nutrition in the country.

Malnutrition in India

• Malnutrition refers to when a person’s diet does not provide enough nutrients or the right balance of nutrients for optimal health.
• The National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5) indicates that since the onset of the pandemic, acute undernourishment in children below the age of five has worsened, with one in every three children below the age of five suffering from chronic malnourishment. 
• According to the latest data, 37.9 per cent of children under five are stunted, and 20.8 per cent are wasted. It is a form of malnutrition in which children are too thin for their height. 
  • Wasting is defined as low weight-for-height. Stunting is defined as low height-for-age. 
• According to NFHS 4, approximately 9 per cent of children under five years of age in India experience diarrhoeal disease.

Causes

• Inadequate dietary intake is the most direct cause of undernutrition. 
• Poor sanitation: According to the World Health Organisation, 50 per cent of all mal- and under-nutrition can be traced to diarrhoea and intestinal worm infections, which are a direct result of poor water, sanitation and hygiene. Unsanitary living environments lead to chronic gut injury. 
• Poor hygiene and sanitation in developing countries leads to a sub-clinical condition called “environmental enteropathy” in children, which causes nutritional malabsorption and is the source of a variety of problems, including diarrhoea, retarded growth and stunting.
• Childhood diarrhoea is a major public health problem in low- and middle-income countries, leading to high mortality in children under five. 
  • Diarrhoeal diseases, intestinal parasite infections and environmental enteropathy together impact the normal growth and cognitive development of children, leading to anaemia, stunting, and wasting. 

Linkage between WASH and nutrition

• One of the first instances of the link between WASH and nutrition appeared in the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, which urges states to ensure “adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking water” to combat disease and malnutrition. 
• On the one hand, poor WASH facilities exacerbate the effects of malnutrition. But, on the other hand, pre-existing micronutrient deficiencies exacerbate children’s vulnerability to WASH-related infections and diseases. 
• WHO has estimated that access to proper water, hygiene and sanitation can prevent the deaths of at least 8,60,000 children a year caused by undernutrition. 

It’s evident that there is a direct, and irrefutable, correlation between sanitation and nutrition, and the sooner we acknowledge it, the faster we can work towards fixing it.

Way forward:

• In India’s case, in particular, with its population of more than a billion people, both WASH and nutrition must be addressed together through a lens of holistic, sustainable community engagement to enable long-term impact.
• Safe drinking water, proper sanitation and hygiene can significantly reduce diarrhoeal and nutritional deaths. 
• A simultaneous approach to nutrition and WASH will not only aid India’s fight against malnutrition, bolster Covid resilience amongst the most vulnerable sections of society but also safeguard against monsoon-related health challenges. 
  • This will require a coordinated, multisectoral approach among the health, water, sanitation, and hygiene bodies, not to mention strong community engagement. 
• Building awareness and accelerating implementation of clean and safe living strategies.

At the end of the day, all sides are working towards a common goal: A safe and healthy population and the hope that the 75th year of Independence becomes a watershed moment in India’s journey.

The Indian Express Link:

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/to-tackle-nutrition-challenges-we-must-also-address-sanitation-issues-7490921/

Question: By focussing on WASH strategies, the issue of malnutrition can be tackled better . Elucidate.