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Review
. 2021 Mar;154(3):455-460.
doi: 10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_2057_21.

Global Hunger Index does not really measure hunger - An Indian perspective

Padam Singh  1 , Anura V Kurpad  2 , Davendra Verma  3 , Arun K Nigam  4 , Harshpal S Sachdev  5 , Arvind Pandey  1 , Rajkumar Hemalatha  6 , Sila Deb  7 , Kumud Khanna  8 , Shally Awasthi  9 , Gurudayal Singh Toteja  10 , Priyanka G Bansal  10 , Zaozianlungliu Gonmei  10 , Balram Bhargava  11
Affiliations
Review

Global Hunger Index does not really measure hunger - An Indian perspective

Padam Singh et al. Indian J Med Res. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is calculated and disseminated annually. India, which is the 5th largest economy in the world and has a good ranking in many other indicators, has a poor ranking based on this index. After a critical review of the appropriateness of the indicators used in GHI, the Indian Council of Medical Research has the viewpoint that the indicators of undernourishment, stunting, wasting and child mortality do not measure hunger per se. Referring to this index as a Hunger Index, and thereby ranking countries is not appropriate, since many of the measures that are used to evolve an index that measures hunger are probably contextual. Countries should therefore evolve their own measures that are suitable for their own context.

Keywords: Child mortality; GHI; hunger; nutrition; stunting; undernourishment; wasting.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None.

References

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