COVID-19 induced food insecurity.

COVID-19 induced food insecurity.

• According to a Lancet study of the 10.4 crore under-5 deaths in India in 2017, as many as 7,06,000 deaths could be attributed to malnutrition. On average, every day 1,934 children under five die with malnutrition as the underlying cause.
• There is COVID-19 induced food insecurity.
• An increase in joblessness, a fall in income, and poverty due to the pandemic and the lockdowns will lead to a rise in hunger as well as malnutrition in the country.
• Due to COVID-19 induced food insecurity, malnutrition will only go up.
• The extended lockdown has hit many nutritional services like the ones mandated by the National Food Security Act, 2013.
• There is a need for reverting to pre-COVID levels of investment of resources in nutritional services.
• There is also the need for higher community engagement.
• COVID-19 sensitive strategies must be developed to ensure the continuity of nutritional services.

Source: The Hindu