Mumbai’s vast slum areas inhabit thousands of children affected by poor access to water, lack of food and proper nutrition, health, and hygiene. Unfortunately, the early signs of malnutrition often go undetected. An analysis reveals that children under five dwelling in these areas face stunted growth in height and weight compared to healthy children of the same age. The difference is as high as 51%. We repeated this nutrition survey in the slums of Govandi in 2015 to assess the level of malnutrition. We found that one in every four children was severely affected. The wasting levels were as high as 22.9%. Poor maternal health, vulnerability to infections from exposure to the largest dump yard, and lack of knowledge on child feeding practices are the key factors contributing to the high rate of undernutrition among children in the slums of Mumbai.

Baran, a district in the southwest region of Rajasthan, India, consists largely of tribal population. Most of the tribal families here survive on small-scale farming, manual labour, or the sale of minor forest produce

While agriculture is rain dependent and therefore seasonal, manual labour and forest produce do not provide a fixed source of income either.

Some of the tribal communities, such as the Sahariya’s, tend to migrate as a community and thus suffer from nutrition and food insecurity. An acute lack of income and nutrition security owing to geographical and cultural reasons has resulted in children from these tribes falling victim to the vicious cycle of hunger.