Articles by Arun Gupta

Much of India's nutrition agenda is being driven by the private sector through public-private partnerships and so-called multi-stakeholder dialogues. The new strategies of transnational corporations fall under the category of manipulation by association, where they establish their role and legitimacy by associating themselves with key institutions and people. A prime example of this is the influential 2013 series on maternal and child nutrition published by the Lancet. This comment analyses the issue and proposes some solutions.

The Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992 attempted to curb the efforts of baby food manufacturers to undermine breastfeeding and was further amended in 2003 to plug loopholes. However, public-private health partnerships are now found to be advocating nutrition policies aimed at helping food multinationals increase their markets. A stronger legislation is thus needed to fight this practice.

Child mortality rates, especially those of children under five, as well as the incidence of malnutrition among young children remain high in India. The infant and young child feeding programme is in need of an immediate reappraisal. To ensure the IYCF's optimal efficacy, it needs to be integrated into health, welfare and other outreach programmes presently underway in urban as well as in remote and far-flung rural areas.

Malnutrition among children occurs almost entirely during the first two years of life and is virtually irreversible after that. Food interventions at schools are unlikely to address infant feeding and young child malnutrition as they cater to older children, who in fact suffer from malnutrition since they are young. The solutions to the problem emerge from a clearer distinction between hunger and malnutrition and the knowledge that child malnutrition is directly associated with inappropriate feeding practices. This requires a shift in thinking, from food-based approaches towards feeding behaviour change.