Malicious report of American institute claiming 67 lakh Indian children being in zero-food category

• Research published in the Journal of ‘American Medical Association’

• Government of India says the research is ‘baseless’

Study claiming 67 lakh Indian children being in zero-food category

(Credit – Sakshi Post, Vibes Of India)

New Delhi – A study of children aged between 6 and 23 months in India and elsewhere was conducted recently and its report was published in the Journal of the ‘American Medical Association’ on 12th February. The report claims that 6.7 lakh (19.3%) children in India fall into the zero-food category. This means that there are 67 lakh children in the country, who did not consume any milk or food in the last 24 hours.

India ranks third

The study claims that India ranks third in the list of 92 low and middle-income countries in the world in the zero-food category, with so many children falling in this category. Guinea (21.8%) and Mali (20.5%) rank first and second respectively. The situation in these countries is worse than India. This problem is said to be largely prevalent in West Africa, Central Africa, and India.

India calls the report fake

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has termed the study as baseless. The ministry said,

1. The article lacks primary research and makes misleading assertions. This study is a deliberate and malicious attempt to sensationalise fake news.

2. Researchers’ study is absolutely unreliable as there is no scientific definition of ‘zero food children’.

3. The study only talks about consuming animal milk and food, while infants who feed on breast milk are not mentioned.

4. The study mentions that 17.8% of India’s 19.3% children are breastfed. If it is so, how do those children fall into the zero-food category ?

5. The ministry also noted that the study ignored publicly available data from the Poshan Tracker, which monitors over 8 crore children across the country through Anganwadi centres. These centres play a crucial role in providing supplementary nutrition, including micro-nutrients and fortified foods, to children under 6 years old.

Editorial Viewpoint

American institutions publish such reports to malign India’s image. Therefore, India should not only protest, but try to expose their fraud at the global level.