40% Indian women underweight at conception, maternal health neglected

Maternal health in India has always been an issue of concern with lack of facilities and a woman's health being the most neglected in rural areas. A new study further strengthens these facts as it reports that more than 40 percent of women in India are underweight when they begin pregnancy. (Read:Women s health deteriorates in Rajasthan)

Body mass and weight gain during pregnancy are important indicators of maternal health and the findings of this study conducted at Princeton University are a matter of concern. Babies born to undernourished mothers are more likely to be underweight, a characteristic influencing height, cognition and productivity across a lifetime.

When compared to sub-Saharan Africa, a region that is known for extremely poor health and high birth rates, India fared far worse as only 16.5 percent women in that region are underweight during their pregnancy. (Read: JP Nadda promises better healthcare policies for women, children and adolescents)

These findings only show lack of government initiative and support to promote the importance of maternal health during pregnancy. The research claims improving maternal health in India could be an herculean task as the health of pregnant women is often compromised due to the lack of social status of women in Indian households. (Read: 8 common mistakes every pregnant woman makes!)

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As the health of children is one most important indicator of a society's well-being, which begins right from pregnancy, the lead author Dianne Coffey stressed that her findings should be an alarm for the government to improve policies and create awareness about maternal nutrition and India must invest more in human capital from the very beginning of life. (Read: Mobile health unit launched to improve women s healthcare)

She also highlighted the need for a national monitoring system, to estimate important indicators of maternal health so that the government need not rely on out-dated cross sectional surveys. These sample surveys are extremely feasible as they will allow policy makers to gauge the changes and monitor the progress of newly implemented policies.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Photo source: Getty images

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