ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has been placed 88th on this year’s Global Hunger Index, ranking higher than neighouring India.
Like other South Asian countries – Bangladesh (75) and Myanmar (78) – Pakistan, however, has a level of hunger that is serious with a score of 24.6. Last year it was ranked 94th in the list.
India, the second largest population in the world, continues to be in the ‘severe’ hunger category with 12 percent of its people undernourished, according to the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020.
With a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is serious. Meanwhile, the country’s child wasting rate for this year stands at 17.3 percent, as compared to last year, when it recorded 20.8 percent. Child wasting refers to the share of children under age five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition.
“Data from 1991 through 2014 for Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan showed that stunting is concentrated among children from households facing multiple forms of deprivation, including poor dietary diversity, low levels of maternal education, and household poverty,” the index said. Child stunting refers to the share of children under age five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition.
Last year India was placed 102nd in the list of 117 countries. This year, placed 94th among 107 countries in terms of hunger, India ranks lower than most of its South Asian neighbors.
Nepal in 73rd and Sri Lanka in 64th position are in ‘moderate’ hunger category, while Afghanistan fares worst and is ranked 99th.
Seventeen nations, including China, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores of less than five, the website of the Global Hunger Index, that tracks hunger and malnutrition.
The index is based on four indicators- undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality.
Chad, Timor-Leste and Madagascar have come under the ‘alarming’ category.
