The supply of agricultural products also faltered due to the lockdown last year due to the Corona epidemic. As a result, women are not getting enough nutrients. The nutrition of women has been affected more by the lockdown.
The Tata Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) New Delhi in its study has found that women's nutritional deficiency is due to less consumption of food items such as meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, etc. According to experts, all these foods are rich in nutrients, but due to their non-availability, women had to face more problems.
According to research published in the journal Economy-Politica, there was no restriction on the supply and distribution of food items in the lockdown. Despite this, food supplies have faltered compared to 2019.
The situation worsens due to the pandemic
TCI's research economist Soumya Gupta says that even before the corona epidemic, women had to deal with nutritional deficiencies, but the situation got worse due to the epidemic. TCI Director Prabhu Pingali, Assistant Director Matthew Abraham, and Consultant Payal Seth, involved in the research, have made this claim after studying at the state and district level in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha.
Difficult due to closure of Anganwadi centers
The team of researchers surveyed 155 homes. It was found that due to the lockdown, 72 percent of the domestic women lost contact with the Anganwadi. Along with this, the increased price of food items during the lockdown has also taken a toll on the health of women. 90 percent of the women in the study reported that they ate less food, while 95 percent said that they got very few types of food.
It was a compulsion to eat thin pulses in lockdown
Soumya Gupta says that due to the non-availability of nutritious food, the health of women along with their young children has also been affected. The women told that in the lockdown they started making thin Daan or reduced the consumption of pulses. A 42 percent reduction has also been reported in eating fruits and other vitamin-A-rich foods. Nutrient deficiencies can lead to malnutrition for young children.