Nutritional Policies and Anaemia Among Under-five Children in Selected South Asian Countries: 1950-2016

Abstract

\n This study provides an understanding between the nutrition policies and nutritional status of under-5 children in South Asian countries. It gives an overview of nutrition policies and actions taken to improve the nutritional status of under-5 children in the South Asian context, focusing on Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The efforts were taken to understand the legislative actions and children s nutritional status in these countries and their past efforts to deal with anemia. To execute the efforts, data has been taken from the Global Health Observatory Data Repository (GHODR), Demographic Health Survey (DHS) and reviews some of the critical interventions in nutrition within the different countries and draws out several issues that bear on these policies future evolution. The findings show Around 57.3 percent in India, 40 percent in Bangladesh, 43 percent in Nepal and 59 percent in Pakistan under-5 children were found anaemic in 2016. There are 33 percentage, 31 percent, 20 percent and 12 percent points reduction took place in 26 years between 1990 and 2016 in Bangladesh Nepal, India and Pakistan respectively. The low anemia prevalence was observed in Bangladesh and Nepal despite fewer policies and programs than in India and Pakistan which manifests quality of policy is more important rather than quantity of policy. The findings show that the growth of nutrition policies and the program has a slow pace but positively affects anemia among the under-5 children in South Asian countries. To eradicate anemia among the children and to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), India and Pakistan need to take a policy lesson from the neighboring countries. This study suggests that National Nutrition Program requires inter-sectoral coordination between major Ministries within countries to get required level success within limited time.