India: Despite progress in combating malnutrition, 3 in 10 children stunted: WFP

According to WFP, large numbers of India’s 1.3 billion people do not get enough vitamin A, iron and iodine, especially women and children.

And finally to India, where the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that despite progress in combating malnutrition, more than three in 10 children are stunted in much of the country.

According to WFP, large numbers of India's 1.3 billion people do not get enough vitamin A, iron and iodine, especially women and children.

Prolonged periods without an adequate diet can have an irreversible impact on a child's physical growth and brain development, the agency says.

This is despite the fact that India is self-sufficient in food grain production and has seen a large increase in rice, wheat and cereal production.

In a report published jointly by WFP and the Indian Government assessing the country's progress towards achieving zero hunger by 2030, it notes that in the last decade, the body mass of Indian women and men dropped by 10 per cent 14 per cent respectively.

While stunting has declined by one fifth in India in the last decade, it is still seeing the slowest rate of decline of other emerging economies and most countries in Asia, WFP says.