This index is compared with a range to show if the individual is underweight,
within normal range or overweight. A high value shows excess fat and a low value
show a fat level that is less than what is required. According to NIN report, the
situation for adult men and women are as follows:
"The prevalence of chronic energy deficiency ( BMI<18.5) among men was
about 35% , while overweight/obesity (BMI >25) was 10%. ………
“About 35% of adult women had chronic energy deficiency and14% were
overweight/ obese. The prevalence of chronic energy deficiency was highest in
the States of Odisha,Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, followed by 33-38% in Karnataka,
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal ....”
How is this related to food security? A doctor who is working in a rural area of
Chhattisgarh running a community health programme where streams of underweight
patients come every day explains this link. From a study of the patients, he found
that the PDS grain of 35kg/ per month for a family of five lasted only 11 days. For
the rest of the month, they have to depend on the market or their own produce.
For example, a rickshaw puller in Bilaspur who earns 70-80 rupees a day would try
to survive on the PDS grain, spending Rs 400 on rent and Rs 100 on electricity. It
was not surprising that he lost weight and caught tuberculosis.
These measures are thus indicators of food security. The doctor from Chattisgarh
says :
No one would have a lower weight or height if he/ she had access to adequate
food. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. We can judge all processes like
efficacy of the PDS, the importance given to growing food crops, and the
purchasing power of people by looking at body parameters like weight and height.
Besides, a person’s height can also tell us whether food was available during his/
her childhood. We can still choose to describe underweight and stunted people
as malnourished if we like. But I suggest the correct term would be ‘hunger’.
The first section examined the issue of food security from the point of view of
overall production of food in the country. What can be done to increase the food
production remains an important question. Next, we discussed how availability is
measured. A worrying fact is that per person availability of foodgrains has actually
not risen but declined in the recent years.