Swagata Yadavar - India has world’s highest number of stunted children, child workers / India Has The Highest Number Of Children Whose Childhood Is Stolen By Malnutrition
31 million children
in the country are a part of its workforce, the highest number in the world.
India now has the
highest number of children stunted due to malnutrition – 48.2 million,
equivalent to the population of Colombia, as per the latest global report on
childhood. Also, 31 million of its children are a part of its workforce, the
highest number in the world. These two factors,
along with early marriage and parenthood and lack of education, have pushed
India to 116th position among 172 nations assessed for threats to childhood,
according to the recent Stolen Childhoods report by
Save the Children, an international non-profit working for marginalised and
deprived children.
Globally, 700 million
children have had their childhood curtailed early, said the report which was
released on June 1, the eve of the international children’s day. Three of India’s
neighbouring countries did better on the index — Sri Lanka was ranked 61,
Bhutan, 93 and Myanmar, 112. Nepal (134), Bangladesh (134) and Pakistan (148) fared
worse than India. The index focuses on a
set of life-changing events and uses certain indicators to assess countries:
mortality among children under five years of age, malnutrition that stunts
growth, lack of education, child labour, early marriage, adolescent births,
displacement by conflict and child homicide. India with the highest number of stunted children and
child labourers in the world fared badly on most indicators.
India has highest
number of stunted children in the world
Stunted growth is
caused by chronic malnutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from
early pregnancy to age 2. India reports highest figures for stunting and
one-third of all girls in the country suffer the condition, according to the
report. “Chronic malnutrition
at this stage of life is largely irreversible, and stunted children face a
lifetime of lost opportunities in education and work. They are also more likely
to succumb to illness and disease, and can die as a result,” the report said.
Only one child among
10 in India gets adequate nutrition, India Spend had reported in May 2017.
As a result, mortality
is high among children under five years of age. Nearly half of all deaths in
children under five years of age are attributable to malnutrition according to
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. Also, one child in every
21 dies before reaching the fifth birthday in India. For every 1,000 live
births, 50 children under five die, a figure comparable to the poorer African
island nation of Madagascar, IndiaSpend reported in March, 2017.
47 m youth of upper
secondary age not going to schools
|
In India, 18.6% of
children are out of school in the primary and secondary age group and 47
million youth of upper secondary age are not in school, said the report. Children who are
excluded from primary education will earn significantly less over their
lifetimes than their educated peers. “The economic cost of not educating these
out-of-school children – estimated at 0.3 to 15.2 percent of GDP in these
countries – is far greater than what it would cost to achieve universal primary
education” the report said. Among Indian children
in the 4-14 years group, 11.8% are working. That is 31 million children, the
highest in the world. Children working to
support their families don’t just miss out on education, they also miss out on
rest, play and recreation. They lose opportunities to engage with their
community, and participate in cultural, religious and sports activities. This
effectively means missing out on childhood. Half of all children
in India living on the streets or from coming from homeless families work for a
living – at construction sites, hotels – and do not study, IndiaSpend reported
in April 2016.
Early marriage
means a deprived childhood
In India, 21.1% of all
girls between 15 to 19 years are married while 103 million girls were married
before they turned 18, according to the report. Early marriage has
devastating consequences for a girl’s life, effectively ending her childhood by
forcing her into adulthood and motherhood before she is physically and mentally
ready. Child brides frequently feel disempowered and are deprived of their
rights to health, education and safety. “Child brides are at
greater risk of experiencing dangerous complications in pregnancy and
childbirth, contracting HIV/AIDS and suffering domestic violence. With little
access to education and economic opportunities, they and their families are
more likely to live in poverty” the report said. Further, 23.3 girls
per 1,000 gave birth between ages 15 and 19, as per the report. Early
childbearing impacts the nation’s economy and communities. If adolescents in
India waited till their 20s to become mothers, they would have greater economic
productivity of upto $7.7 billion or Rs 49,600 crore, the report calculated.
India Has The Highest Number Of Children Whose Childhood Is Stolen By Malnutrition
The latest End of Childhood Index report, prepared by Save the
Children, an international non-profit organisation based in the United States,
paints a dismal scenario for children in India in key areas such as child
malnutrition, child labour, child marriage and early pregnancy. India ranks 116
among 172 nations on the index. As the report says, "many children"
in the country are "missing out on childhood." At 48 million, India
has the largest number of children under the age of 5 in the world who are
moderately to severely stunted, according to the report that was released on 31
May. Globally, there are 156 million children under age of five who are stunted
because of malnutrition, which is about a quarter of all the children in that
age group. The percentage of children who are stunted in India is 39 percent,
the highest after Yemen at 47 percent, Pakistan at 45 percent and the
Democratic Republic of Congo at 43 percent.
The report said that
"stunting" is a condition that "prevents children from
developing to their full potential, both mentally and physically" when a
child does not get enough food and nutrients. It is caused because of chronic
malnutrition in first 1,000 days of a child's life...
