The government today said that indicators of the global hunger index are flawed and do not reflect the country’s true picture. In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said that nutrition indicators for children under 5 years have improved in the country and the global hunger index should not be taken at face value as it is neither appropriate nor representative of hunger prevalent in the country.
She said that out of its four indicators only one indicator that is undernourishment is directly related to hunger. Another two indicators of stunting and wasting are outcomes of complex contractions of various other factors like sanitation, genetics, environment, and utilization of food intake apart from hunger which is taken as an outcome factor for stunting and wasting in the Global Hunger Index.
