Economic boom alone can't remove malnourishment: World Bank

In a critical comment on India, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, the World Bank said robust economic growth and food security alone would not remove the tag of being "one of the most malnourished".

"Whilst India celebrates its booming economy and GDP growth, the country remains one of the most malnourished in the world today," the multilateral lending agency said in a study on undernourished children in South Asia.

India's 2005 National Family Health Survey found 46 per cent of children below three to be underweight and 38 per cent stunted, with national aggregates masking wide disparities, the bank said in the study.

"The survey findings highlight that neither economic growth nor food security is likely to be sufficient to lower the prevalence of malnutrition," the paper said.

Factors such as appropriate infant and young child feeding, hygiene and sanitation, prevention and treatment of illnesses and status of women are critical, it said.

Stating that the level of malnutrition in India is nearly double that reported in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Bank said it is unlikely that the United Nations' MDG (millennium development goals) target of halving the incidence of underweight by 2015 will be met.