India has highest prevalence of underweight kids: Study

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-10-12/india/28231125_1_global-hunger-index-hunger-levels-underweight

NEW YORK: India has highest prevalence of underweight children under five and the level of hunger there is "alarming" as the country ranks 67, out of 84 countries, on the Global Hunger Index, a new study has found.

About 40 per cent of under-five children in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, and Yemen were underweight, while Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, and Somalia have the highest under -five mortality rate - 20 per cent or more, a report by Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has found.

"Globally, the biggest contributor to the world GHI (Global Hunger Index) score is child underweight," it said. The GHI was calculated on three factors - the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and the child mortality rate.