Global Hunger Index- Criteria, Methodology & India's Ranking

The government has questioned the methodology and data accuracy of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, alleging that children considered healthy were also counted to determine the ranking.

India was ranked at 94th position out of 107 countries that were studied.

About Global Hunger Index:

The report is a peer-reviewed publication released annually by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
It tracks hunger at global, regional and national levels.

How are Countries ranked?

The GHI scores are based on a formula that captures three dimensions of hunger—insufficient caloric intake, child undernutrition, and child mortality—using four component indicators:
- UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the population that is under-nourished, reflecting insufficient caloric intake
- CHILD WASTING: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (low weight-for-height), reflecting acute undernutrition.
- CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (low height-for-age), reflecting chronic undernutrition.
- CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children under the age of five.

Scoring Index:

The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst. Values less than 10 reflect low hunger and values of 50 or more are extremely alarming.

Key findings:

India has the highest prevalence of wasted children under five years in the world, which reflects acute undernutrition.
The report put India under the serious category with a score of 27.2.
In the region of south, east, and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, and North Korea.
The child stunting rate in India was 37.4 %.
Child wasting was at 17.3 %.
The undernourishment rate of India was at 14% and child mortality at 3.7 %.

Source: TH

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