‘Breastfeeding And Complementary Feeding Practices Together Can Prevent Almost 20% Of Deaths In Children Under Five Years'

Undernutrition of young children severely undermines their potential for good. Arjan de Wagt, chief of nutrition, Unicef, India, and former global coordinator on orphans and vulnerable children, spoke to Bappa Majumdar on the importance of breastfeeding in addressing nutrition challenges for kids:

- Bappa Majumdar

Why is undernutrition so vital to address during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Two-thirds of deaths among children under five in India are attributed to undernutrition, which manifests as underweight, stunting and wasting. It is a ‘silent killer’ that results in compromised physical and mental development, poor performance at school, reduced intellectual capacity, and later even impacts adult income generation. It cuts across all people and socio-economic groups, but women, infants, children and adolescents are at particular risk of undernutrition. And people who are poor are more likely to be affected by different forms of malnutrition. The costs of inaction are immense, resulting in losses to individuals, states and the Indian economy from millions more undernourished and poorly educated children.

Has Covid-19 made things worse on the nutrition front for children?

The Covid-19 pandemic is undermining nutrition with the worst consequences being borne by young children. In India, despite the commendable change in improved child nutrition indicators, an estimated 20 million children under five years of age are suffering from wasting, over 40 million children are chronically malnourished and more than half of Indian women aged 14-49 years are anaemic. The pandemic has further exposed the fragility of children, less by the virus itself but much more by the indirect and long-term fallout.