“ Better nutrition
means you complete
more school”
> Only 15% of Indian women 15–39 years of age
have completed 8–9 years of education. 22% of girls
6 –24 years have no education.
> When children are well-nourished, they are
better able to fi ght off diseases that keep them home
fr om school. They tend to learn more, and earn
more as adults.
“ Not enough vitamin A
can put you at risk
of blindness and death”
> Only 18% of 6–59 month olds in India received a vitamin A supplement
in the past 6 months.
> Vitamin A supplements for children under 5 prevent blindness and boost
children’s immune systems, protecting against death fr om diseases like
diarrhea and measles.
> Malnourished mothers are more likely to have malnourished babies. One
in three Indian women of childbearing age is malnourished, and there are
an estimated 7.4 million low birth weight babies born in India each year.
> Access to suffi cient nutritious food and micronutrients during pregnancy –
especially iron, iodine, folic acid and calcium – improves the health of both
mothers and infants.
“ You are exclusively
breastfed for only
1.9 months”
> An Indian girl will be breastfed for 8 weeks less
than the average Indian boy. And fr om 6 months to
2 years, only 21% of girls in India are fed an optimal
diet to complement breastfeeding.
> Exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months and appro-
priate complementary feeding aft er 6 months, along
with continued breastfeeding, signifi cantly reduces
stunting and improves child survival.
“ You may suff er
fr om stunted growth
due to malnutrition”
> 48% of Indian girls under 5 years are stunted, 19% are wasted and 70%
are anemic – leading to irreversible consequences on physical, mental and educational
attainment.
> The fi rst 1,000 days fr om pregnancy to a child’s 2 nd birthday are a ‘Critical Window’
in a child’s development. Nutrition interventions during this time can prevent stunting
and have a signifi cant and sustained impact on the child’s life.
All data fr om: International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and Macro International. 2007. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3),
2005–06: India: Volume I. Mumbai: IIPS”
Sight and Life is a
humanitarian nutrition
think tank of DSM
The Life of
an Indian Girl
“ Your mother’s
nutritional status aff ects
you in the womb”