India's Undernourished Children

by Gragnolati, Michele; Bredenkamp, Caryn; Shekar, Meera; Gupta, Monica Das; Lee, Yi-kyoung

• ISBN13: 9780821365878
• ISBN10: 0821365878
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-06-30
• Publisher: World Bank

Summary

The prevalence of child undernutrition in India is among the highest in the world, nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa, with dire consequences for morbidity, mortality, productivity and economic growth. Drawing on qualitative studies and quantitative evidence from large household surveys, this book explores the dimensions of child undernutrition in India and examines the effectiveness of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program, India's main early child development intervention, in addressing it.Although levels of undernutrition in India declined modestly during the 1990s, the reductions lagged behind those achieved by other countries with similar economic growth. Nutritional inequalities across different states and socioeconomic and demographic groups remain large.Although the ICDS program appears to be well-designed and well-placed to address the multi-dimensional causes of malnutrition in India, several problems exist that prevent it from reaching its potential. The book concludes with a discussion of a number of concrete actions that can be taken to bridge the gap between the policy intentions of ICDS and its actual implementation.

Table of Contents

Figures, Tables, and Boxes	vii
Foreword	x
Acknowledgments	xii
Acronyms	xv
Overview	xvii
Dimensions of Child Undernutrition in India	1	(32)
Why Invest in Combating Undernutrition?	4	(6)
Prevalence of Underweight	10	(11)
Prevalence of Micronutrient Deficiencies	21	(7)
Will India Meet the Nutrition MDG?	28	(3)
Conclusions	31	(2)
The Integrated Child Development Services Program: Are Results Meeting Expectations?	33	(38)
How ICDS Aims to Address the Causes of Persistent Undernutrition	34	(7)
Empirical Findings on the Impact of ICDS	41	(1)
Targeting of ICDS Program and Beneficiaries	42	(10)
Characteristics and Quality of ICDS Service Delivery	52	(7)
Monitoring and Evaluation	59	(5)
Lessons from Successful Innovations	64	(7)
Enhancing the Impact of ICDS?	71	(20)
Mismatches between Program Design and Implementation	72	(1)
How Can ICDS Reach Its Full Potential?	73	(14)
Next Steps: Rationalizing Design and Improving Implementation	87	(4)
Appendix: Additional Figures and Tables	91	(8)
Notes	99	(6)
Bibliography	105