Abstract
The first Millennium Development Goal deals with eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. While hunger continues to decline, progress in reducing undernutrition has been uneven across the world and even within the country. The prevalence of underweight and stunted children under-five years of age is considered as an indicator to measure undernutrition situation. In the context where food availability and access is primarily achieved, the prevalence of undernutrition indicates towards the nutritional aspect of food security. Drinking water is one of the most important factors that needs to be considered while we deal with the utilization dimension of food security. In this context, the chapter intends to focus on the association of drinking water with the nutritional status of children (0–5) years of North East India. For this study, data were taken from the latest round of National Family Health Survey-III (2005–2006). For assessing the nutritional status of children; Weight-for-age and Height-for-age are mainly considered. Results show that undernutrition level is the highest in Tripura and Assam as compared to the other northeastern states. We have also seen the relation between nutritional status and other socio-demographic variables. Expected results were obtained. Statistically significant association was found between drinking water and nutritional status. The chapter also discusses the possibilities of integrating human rights-based approaches, in relevant national MDG-based policies to combat the problem.
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- 1.
The Millennium Declaration, made during the UN Millennium Summit on September 2000, was signed by 189 countries and included eight goals called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Targets were set as quantitative benchmarks for attaining the MDGs. The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) provided a framework of indicators which are categorized according to targets, for measuring the progress towards individual targets. While MDG goals are general in nature, the targets under MDGs are more specific and the indicator(s) for measuring the progress of these targets are defined in concrete terms.
- 2.
General Comment 12: Right to Adequate Food, states that ‘the right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement’.
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Srivastava, M., Roy, P., Bharati, S., Pal, M., Bharati, P. (2018). Association of Nutritional Status and Drinking Water Among the Children of North East India. In: De, U., Pal, M., Bharati, P. (eds) Issues on Health and Healthcare in India. India Studies in Business and Economics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6104-2_26
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6104-2_26
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