Introduction:
Following quite a while of consistent decay, the number of individuals who
experience the ill effects of hunger, as estimated by the predominance of
undernourished, started to gradually increment again in 2015. Current appraisals
show that almost 690 million individuals are ravenous, or 8.9 percent of the total
populace, up by 10 million individuals in a single year and by almost 60 million
every five years.
The world isn't on target to accomplish Zero Appetite by 2030. Assuming late
patterns proceed; the number of individuals impacted by craving would outperform
840 million by 2030. As per the World Food Program, 135 million experience the
ill effects of intense yearning to a great extent because of man-made struggles,
environmental change, and financial slumps.
Simultaneously, a significant difference in the worldwide food and horticulture
framework is required if we are to sustain the over 690 million individuals who are
eager today – and the extra 2 billion individuals the world will have by 2050.
On 24 July 2018, three girls- Mansi(8), Shikha(4) and Parul(2), died in an east
Delhi hospital, succumbed to starvation.
It was found that the mother of the children, Beena (29), was not mentally stable
and their father Mangal Singh(32), a rickshaw puller, did not return home for many
days.
Pradeep Singh, the son of their landlord said that Beena and her family were
brought to him by one of his tenants, a man who works there as a helper at a
roadside eatery nearby. That tenant told Pradeep Singh that Beena and her family
lived in a slum area of Mandawali with her husband and because of the heavy rain
(their shanty was damaged in the rain), they needed a better place to live that is
why on 21 st July 2018, Pradeep allowed them to live for a few days in a small room
in Talab Chowk until they found a better place. They were also not in a condition
to pay the rent according to Pradeep.
According to Pradeep Singh, he was informed that all three children had fainted.
He used to live upstairs. When his mother Sudesh and he rushed to Beena’s house,
they found the children lying unconscious. With the assistance of a neighbor, He
took them to Lal Bahadur Shastri medical clinic where the specialist's articulated
them dead on appearance.
Delegate official of police (east) Pankaj Kumar Singh said the principal post-
mortem examination report proposes that the kids surrendered to unexpected issues
identified with malnourishment and starvation.
According to doctors from Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital where the initial post-
mortem was conducted, the three children had died of starvation resulting from
prolonged malnutrition and hunger. According to a senior doctor from the hospital,
on condition of anonymity, the primary cause of death was starvation; the children
might have had infections or diarrhea but the underlying cause was severe
malnutrition. The state of the organs, as indicated by the posthumous report,
showed that there was delayed ailing health. The bodies of the children were
handed over to the mother the next day.
Police also said the woman could not be questioned properly and has failed to help
them establish the sequence of events. According to a police officer probing the
incident when police tried to ask her if she had fed the children properly, she did
not have any satisfactory reply. She only nodded or said no. They had not been
able to get details from her. She was also not aware of the whereabouts of her
husband.
The landowner said he felt that Beena was not intellectually stable when he had
permitted them to remain at his home. He said that she could not interact properly
and she barely spoke to the people. Her husband also came on 21 st July, when they
shifted and since then, he had been away. They had not seen him return even after
the children died.
Cause of their Starvation:
After an initial examination, doctors reported that the reason for the death of the
three sisters was hunger. They hadn’t eaten anything for 8 days and due to which
they went into a shock on Monday night. They had no traces of fat on their bodies.
It could be seen in the postmortem report that their stomach was utterly empty. It’s
a case of gross starvation and malnutrition. It was confirmed by police officials
that the mother of the children was not mentally stable and couldn’t even recognize
her children when the dead bodies were given to her after autopsy and the father
was missing from 3-4 days, lookout order for whom was released by the police
department. All three sisters were below the age of 10 years and had no one where
to go to instead of their parents in that city and neighborhood. Two of the younger
sisters were unwell for a few days and the older one who used to go to school,
should have provided mid-day meals, also fell ill.
Solutions of the hunger problem:
FOSTERING GENDER EQUALITY
According to data from the World Food Program, in nearly two-thirds of the
world’s countries, women are more hungry than men. By putting women’s health
and nutrition first, we can not only prevent them from having health complications
during childbirth, but also prevent them from having children.
REDUCING FOOD WASTE
Currently, one third of all food produced (more than 1.3 billion tons) is wasted.
Producing this wasted food also wastes other natural resources. Ending food waste
will be a fundamental shift, but you can get involved by simply reducing your own
food waste.
SUPPORTING HYGIENE
Sometimes people (especially children) seem to eat enough. But if they live in an
area with inadequate sanitation facilities or poor hygiene practices, they may be
prone to diarrhea or other water-borne diseases, which prevents them from
absorbing these nutrients.
IMPROVING FOOD STORAGE SYSTEMS
What if you have enough food but lack storage solutions to preserve food? This is
another problem that, once resolved, will have a major impact on narrowing the
hunger gap. Sometimes this requires a lot of intervention, such as building or
repairing food stores. Other times, this change may occur at the household level.