Pradeep Kumar Panda
Darshan Samikhya Bhubaneswar

India ranks 105 in Global Hunger Index 2024

Pradeep Kumar Panda
Darshan Samikhya Bhubaneswar

Recently Global Hunger Index 2024 report is published. As per the report, India ranks 105 in the Index.

This rank is abysmally low and India is placed in serious category.

India's score is 27.3, placing it in the "serious" hunger category. This is a slight improvement from a score of 29.3 in 2016, but the progress is slow given the scale of hunger challenges.

18.7% of children in India suffer from child wasting (low weight for height), the highest rate globally, showing little improvement over the years.

16.5% of India’s population is undernourished, indicating insufficient caloric intake. This is a slight improvement but still represents a large segment of the population.

35.5% of children under five in India are stunted (low height for age), reflecting chronic malnutrition. Although this figure has improved, it remains high.

India’s child mortality rate is 3.1%, meaning 3 out of 100 children do not survive until age five. This rate contributes significantly to India’s overall GHI score.

While there has been a slight improvement in India’s hunger situation compared to last year, critical issues like child wasting and undernourishment show no significant decline.

India’s hunger levels reflect the broader South Asia region, where hunger remains serious, driven by poor diet quality, economic challenges, and natural disasters.

Maternal malnutrition plays a significant role in India’s child undernutrition, leading to an intergenerational cycle of malnutrition.

Despite food security and nutrition programs, India’s rate of improvement is insufficient to meet the Zero Hunger by 2030 SDG target.

The report calls for urgent interventions to address high levels of child wasting and stunting in India, emphasizing the need for inclusive, multi-sectoral approaches to improve nutrition outcomes.