‘Fortified rice not enough for malnutrition’
NEW DELHI: India wants to fortify all rice with iron and vitamins distributed under various subsidised food-security schemes, but experts are divided on whether the move will solve the country’s notoriously longstanding malnutrition problem among women and children.
The government currently runs a pilot programme to distribute nutrient-enriched rice, covering a period of three years beginning 2019-2020 with a budget of ₹174.6 crore.
On August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Independence Day speech, announced a major expansion of the programme. “Will give rice fortified with nutrients to the poor. Be it the rice available at the ration shop, the rice provided to the children in the midday meal, or the rice available through every scheme, all of it shall be fortified by 2024,” Modi had said.
India ranks 94th among 107 nations on the Global Hunger Index, which classifies the country as having a “serious” level of hunger. According to the 2016 National Family Health Survey-4, which provides the latest data on health and nutrition, 38.4% of children in the country were stunted (low height for age) and 21% were wasted (low weight for height).
The survey showed that the prevalence of anaemia among Indian women had seen only a small decline from 55% in 2005-06 to 53% in 2015-16.
The government’s rice fortification push is important given that targets under the National Nutrition Mission are yet to be achieved. Since its launch, the mission aims to reduce stunting and wasting by 6% by 2022 (2% per year) among children, and anaemia by 9% (3% per year) among children, teenage girls and pregnant women.
“An emphasis on fortification alone may do little to improve anaemia because from a nutrition point of view, absorption of iron depends on the availability of other nutrients that can come only from a diversified diet,” said Veena Shatrugna, former deputy director at the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad.
Officials, however, say the government’s pilot programmes have shown promising results. In Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, rice fortified with iron had shown a reduction in anaemia prevalence by 10% and improved average cognitive scores by 11.3 points, official provisional data reviewed by HT showed.
A meta-analysis by World Health Organization showed rice fortified with vitamins and minerals, including iron, reduces the risk of iron deficiency by 35% (16 studies having 14,267 participants).
According to Arun Kumar, a nutritionist and a medical doctor who works on health ethics and conflict of interest, the government ought to take into account the latest recommended dietary intake of various micronutrients, which have lowered the daily intake quantity of nutrients, such as iron. “This means a simple diverse diet is still the best option.”
Locally prepared, hot cooked meals are still the preferred option to boost the nutrition status of malnourished children.