India is home to the largest number of anaemic women in the world. The findings of the new Global Nutrition Report 2017 place India at the bottom of the table with the maximum number of women suffering from anaemia in the world.
Countries at the bottom of the heap in terms of the number of anaemic women are China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia and India.
According to the data, more than half (51%) of all India's women of reproductive age have anaemia. On the other hand, more than one in five (22%) of adult women are overweight.
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The
report also found that the vast majority (88%) of countries studied face two or three forms of malnutrition. This puts great emphasis on broader global development efforts.
The report analysed the situation in 140 countries against targets set in May last year at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva
Experts say the government has started recognising this problem of anaemia and under-nutrition in women. But it hasn't progressed in terms of addressing the problem.
Globally, anaemia affects 614 million women aged 15-49 years
According to the 2016 report, nearly 48% of women in India were anaemic.
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The Global Nutrition Report highlights the dual problem of undernutrition and obesity. Both need to be tackled as part of India's national nutrition strategy
"For undernutrition, especially, major efforts are needed to close the inequality gap," said Purnima Menon, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)'s South Asia Office in New Delhi.
Dr Indu Taneja, senior consultant, obstetrics & gynaecology at Fortis Escorts Hospital, said that only nutrition cannot address the problem. Poor hygiene is a major cause for anaemia because it prevents absorption of nutrition.
"The impact can be severe at times, especially when it happens in the child-bearing age," she said.
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