India rejects rank 111, but how is Global Hunger Index calculated?

According to the 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report released on October 12, Thursday, India is ranked on 111th position. However, the Indian government said that the index was a flawed measure of hunger and did not depict India's true position.

Also, this year, India slipped by four places as it was ranked 107th out of 121 countries in the year 2022. 

Why did India reject the GHI 2023 report?

• In the 2023 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 111th out of the 125 countries.
• The country has a score of 28.7 in the 2023 Global Hunger Index - which indicates that the level of hunger is serious.
• India's Ministry of Women and Child Development rejected the GHI report's findings and said, "The GHI continues to be a flawed measure of hunger and does not reflect India’s true position. The index is an erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues."
• The Ministry further added, "Three out of the four indicators used for the calculation of the index are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population. The fourth and most important indicator Proportion of Undernourished population (PoU) is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size of 3,000."
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development asserted that since April 2023, the measurement data of children under five years uploaded on the Poshan Tracker has consistently increased, from 6.34 crore in April 2023 to 7.24 crore in September 2023. It further said, "the percentage of child wasting, as seen on the Poshan Tracker, has been consistently below 7.2 per cent, month-on-month, as compared to the value of 18.7 per cent used for child wasting in the Global Hunger Index 2023."
• Rankings of other South Asian nations: The GHI ranked Pakistan at 102nd, Bangladesh at 81st, Nepal at 69th, and Sri Lanka at 60th. 

So, what exactly is the Global Hunger Index?

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a peer-reviewed report, published annually by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
• GHI is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels. 

How is the GHI calculated?

Every nation's GHI score is determined based on a formula that combines four indicators that together capture the multidimensional nature of hunger:

1. Undernourishment: the share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient;

2. Child stunting: the share of children under the age of five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition;

3. Child wasting: the share of children under the age of five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition; and

4. Child mortality: the share of children who die before their fifth birthday, reflecting in part the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.

Where does India stand in the four aforementioned indicators, according to the GHI 2023?

• India's child wasting rate was at 18.7%, which is the highest child wasting rate in the report and reflects acute undernutrition;
• its child stunting rate is 35.5%;
• its prevalence of undernourishment is 16.6%;
• and its child mortality rate is 3.1%.
• And the prevalence of anemia in women aged between 15 and 24 years stood at 58%.