Having fallen to 'bigger' issues on the world's to-do list, the concern of world hunger is still a major problem. According to an article on the Economist, India has the largest percentage of chronically malnourished children, with almost 60.8% of children under five not receiving proper nutrition. What's more perturbing is the absence of adequate government intervention. Despite India having seen tremendous increases in GDP since the 90s, the level of malnutrition has dropped only a few percentage points with an ever-increasing gap between the have's and have-not's.Malnutrition is not limited to only growth impediments and increased susceptibility to disease, but a lack of nutrition is estimated to account for a 3% loss in annual GDP. Much in the same way that obesity was suggested to cost the US $66 billion in lost productivity, malnutrition accounts for both health and economic problems.
Although government programs in India aimed at alleviating malnutrition do exist, corruption and inefficiency are said to impede their success. In combination with the misunderstanding of the importance of breastfeeding to infant children whom are often given water and cow's milk as an alternative to having the mother remain at home when she could be working, this has worked to designate India as the most malnourished country for children.
While corn rots in a silo in Nebraska because of an overabundance of food in the US, almost half of all Indian children are not receiving their nutritional requirements for beginning a healthy life.
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