India is one of the growing countries in terms of population & economics. Though most of the population is still living below the poverty line, its economic growth indicates new opportunities & movement towards increasing in prevalence of chronic diseases. The combination of people living in poverty & the recent economic growth of India has led to the co-emergence of two types of malnutrition :- under nutrition & over nutrition. Under nutrition includes both protein - energy malnutrition & micro nutrient deficiencies. Undernourishment not only affects physical appearance & energy levels, but also adversely affects many aspects of children's ability to learn & process information & grow into adults that are able to be productive & contributing members of society. Child malnutrition is responsible for 22% of India's burden of diseases. Micro nutrient deficiencies are also a widespread problem in India. More than 40% of preschool children suffer from iron deficiency anemia & 57% children have sub - clinical vitamin A deficiency. Most growth retardation occurs by the age of two, and most damage is irreversible. The prevalence of underweight in rural areas 50% versus 38% in urban areas & higher among girls ( 48.4% ) than among boys ( 45.5% ). At the same time as a large number of population suffers from malnutrition, more than 11% of population in India are over nourished. Over nutrition can be defined as consuming either too much or the wrong types of calories such as saturated fat, trans fat etc which leads to obesity & many other chronic diseases such as diabetes. India is considered as the country with the largest population of diabetics ( ard 51 million ). Over nutrition is most prevalent in the cities among affluence from demographic transition due to sudden economic growth in India. This tells that indeed, underlying causes of over nutrition would be significantly high rate of economic growth. In general, those who are poor are at risk of under nutrition, while those who have high Soc - economic status are relatively more likely to be over nourished . So simply over nourished should control on their diet & render their alms to the undernourished.
