AHMEDABAD: Gujarat, one of the economically developed states in the country, ranks low on fighting hunger and improving nutrition among children, according to data released by NITI Aayog. The western state ranks 25th among Indian states on hunger index, says the 2023-24 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) report released by NITI Aayog earlier this month. The policy think tank’s data also reveals that 39.7% children under five in Gujarat are underweight.
SDG 2 aims to achieve zero hunger. It is one of the 17 SDGs established by the United Nations in 2015. Gujarat scored just 41 points on SDG 2 index, coming behind behind Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and 23 other states in hunger fight. SDG-2 index for Gujarat in 2020-21 was 46, and 41 in 2019-20. It was 49 in 2018, indicating a continuous decline in SDG-2 performance.
Niti Aayog’s data reveals that 39% children under five are stunted, 62.5% of pregnant women aged 15-49 are anaemic, and 25.2% of women in the same age group have a Body Mass Index below 18.5. The prevalence of underweight and stunted children, and anaemic women has increased compared to 2018 and 2019.
“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 anemic, achieving zero hunger by 2030 necessitates urgent and substantial investment in nutrition-focused initiatives,” said Atman Shah, assistant professor in the department of Economics at St Xavier’s College (autonomous) in Ahmedabad.
The 2023 MPI report revealed that nearly half of the rural Gujarat population was deprived of nutrition (44.45 per cent) and 28.97 per cent in urban areas.