India's Undernourished Children : A Call for Reform and Action
This paper explores the dimensions of child undernutrition in India, and examines the effectiveness of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program in addressing it. The paper finds that although levels of undernutrition in India declin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/08/6476657/indias-undernourished-children-call-reform-action http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13644 |
| Summary: | This paper explores the dimensions of
child undernutrition in India, and examines the
effectiveness of the Integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS) program in addressing it. The paper finds that
although levels of undernutrition in India declined modestly
during the 1990s, the reductions lagged far behind that
achieved by other countries with similar economic growth
rates. Nutritional inequalities across different states,
socioeconomic and demographic groups are large - and, in
general, are increasing. The study also finds that the ICDS
program appears to be well-designed and well-placed to
address the multidimensional causes of malnutrition in
India. However, there are several mismatches between the
program's design and its actual implementation that
prevent it from reaching its potential. The paper 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. |
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