New Delhi: Gujarat is one of the worst performers in improving nutrition among children and fighting hunger according to data on the status of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) released by NITI Aayog.
Gujarat ranks 25th on the hunger index in the state-wise rankings released by the think tank in its 2023-24 SDG report released earlier this month.
Nearly 40% of children under five years of age are underweight in the state, otherwise among the economically prosperous, the data has revealed.
Among the 17 SDGs set by the United Nations in 2015, SDG 2 aims to achieve zero hunger. Bihar ranks the lowest at 24 – preceded by Jharkhand (28), Chhattisgarh (40), Gujarat (41), Maharashtra (45), Odisha (45), Assam (47) and Madhya Pradesh (48) – among the seven states who are in the ‘aspirant’ category.
States are categorised based on their scores ranging between 0-100. Those scoring between 0-49 are classified as aspirants, 50-64 are grouped as ‘performers’ and ‘front runners’ have a score between 65-99. ‘Achievers’ score 100.
Gujarat’s performance has consistently declined on the SDG 2 index from 49 in 2018, 41 in 2019 and 46 in 2021
NITIAayog’s data has also revealed that 62.5% of pregnant women in the state aged 15-49 are anaemic while 25.2% of women in the same age group have a body mass index below 18.5.
The number of underweight and stunted children, and anaemic women has increased compared to 2018 and 2019, the New Indian Express reported.
“With Gujarat’s SDG-2 index dropping from 46 in 2020-21 to 41 in 2023-24, and with 39.7% of children under five being underweight and 62.5% of pregnant women anaemic, achieving zero hunger by 2030 necessitates urgent and substantial investment in nutrition-focused initiatives,” Atman Shah, assistant professor in the department of Economics at St Xavier’s College (autonomous) in Ahmedabad was quoted by the paper as saying.
According to the 2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, nearly half the rural population in Gujarat was deprived of nutrition (44.45%) and 28.97% in urban areas, the report said.
