IF THE children of India are any indication of the future health of the country,there may be a dark tomorrow in storefor it. The Progress of Nations Report,1996, released recently by theGovernment of India and the UnitedNations Children's Emergency Fund,reports that as many as 53 per cent ofIndian children under five years of ageare underweight due to malnutrition.The report observes that some of thepoorest countries in sub-saharanAfrica, which suffer from lower levelsof malnutrition are also known to sufferfrom famines.
But India has long since won overthe problem. This points to the fact thatit is a slow death, in the form of malnutrition, that is holding the population atransom. The key factors linked to themalady are social factors which keepmothers at subsistence levels and thepeople's ignorance of the nutritionvalue of various foods (which for allthey know may be growing in theirbackyards).