Bharat and its name are being blackened again in mainstream media. A survey nick-named ‘Zero-Food Children’ study states that 19.3% of India’s infants do not get fed even once in 24 hours! Printed in the JAMA Network Open journal, the survey feeds into the bias against the rising Bharat. It seems to imply that in its quest to become the fastest-growing economy, India’s poor and kids are being left behind.
However, the Ministry of Women and Child Development criticizes the survey. They argue that the parameters are biased and the survey results are inaccurate. While the mainstream media houses talk of 6.7 million malnutritioned kids, let’s discuss the survey and its indices!
What Is The ‘Zero-Food Children’ Survey?
The Journal of the American Medical Association published a survey by Omar Karlsson, Rockli Kim, and S. V. Subramanian. Before we analyze the survey, please note that all publications in JAMA are paid for by the author! Each publication costs $3000 upon selection. Therefore, at the get-go, the JAMA survey is a paid-for publication.
Now, let’s zoom into the actual survey and its findings. The survey studied 92 low- and middle-income nations, in cycles, from 2010 to 2022. The research studied infants aged 6 to 23 months and their nutrition. The survey for India was conducted between 2019-2021. The results presented an alarming situation of malnutrition in infants! Children who were not fed animal products, semi-solid foods, or solid foods in the 24 hours before the survey was conducted were labeled as ‘Zero Food Children!
The survey ranks Bharat as having the third-highest percentage of ‘zero-food children,’ with more than 6.7 million affected.
Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for nearly 28.4% of Bharat’s ‘zero-food children.’ Bihar was another state marked in the danger zone of extreme food deprivation. Furthermore, the report states that in India, 527 kids out of 1000 go without food for 24 hours. All in all, the report paints a grim picture of Bharat where the rich are getting richer and the poor are starving!
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2814926
Media Houses Response To The Survey
“The Hindu” article related the survey results to caste. It reported that mothers from marginalized communities, such as domestic helpers and cooks, struggle to provide adequate nutrition to their infants. Also, they argued that various socio-economic factors and lack of awareness were the primary cause of ‘Zero-Food Children’ in India.
Doubt was cast on government initiatives like the Poshan Abhiyan, which aims to address malnutrition and promote holistic development among children and pregnant women. Many media houses blamed rapid urbanization for exacerbating the problem.
Bharat Questions The Method Of Survey
The government’s strong rebuttal challenges the findings of the study published in JAMA. It seems like a deliberate attempt to sensationalize a ‘pre-set’ propaganda. The Ministry of Women and Child Development says the primary research parameters by the authors are unreliable. Firstly, there is no scientific definition of ‘zero-food children.’ Secondly, it questions why breastmilk, juices, and broths were not considered food for children below 2 years of age. Lastly, the methodology used to arrive at the nutritional status of children in Bharat was negated by the government.
The government of India emphasizes the effectiveness of its nutrition programs, like Poshan Abhiyan and the PMMVY Scheme. These schemes address malnutrition and provide support to pregnant women and children. Thus, Bharat refutes the tag of having a high prevalence of ‘zero-food children.’ Additionally, it argues that publicly available data by the Government of India on nutritional indicators paint a different picture.
Points to Ponder
Missing Cultural Preferences?
1.4 billion Indians reside in 1/16th of the world’s land mass. The concentrated populace is home to many religions and customs. Many Indian mothers choose not to offer an infant semi-solid food till their 9th month. Those with economic difficulties prefer breastmilk and ‘daal ka pani’ or ‘chawal ka pani’ broths to introduce food to small kids. Most children in Bharat undergo an Annaprashan ceremony. In this ceremony, solid food is introduced to the child for the first time. However, it does not mean that solid food becomes their source of nutrition post the ceremony.
Most mothers prefer to feed their children fruit mashes and clear broths for the first few months. Thus, the parameters where these and breastmilk are not counted puts a large chunk of well-fed kids in the ‘Zero-Food Children’ category. Thus, why were the local customs and mother’s choice not part of the survey’s report?
A deeper look at the survey says that only 1.3% of infants did not ingest breastmilk, broth, or juice from the total sample of more than 64,000.
This is the true figure of the ‘Zero Food Children’ percentage in Bharat!
Propaganda Wars?
Additionally, how was Afghanistan (surveyed in 2015) given a better rank during the time of rampant insurgency by Taliban in the nation? Imagine Congo, Rwanda, and Zambia have conflict zones or are supported by the UN’s food programs that were ranked better than Bharat! Even Pakistan, a nation where daily ‘atta-wars’ are the norm, got a better rank than India? The paid-for publication and the survey presentation seem like propaganda against Bharat. It is a tool to be used to support the narrative of economic injustice among India’s poor. It aims to show India in an unfavorable light to the world. We wonder whose narrative does this survey suit?! The public knows the answer for sure!!