The puzzle of persistent undernutrition in India is largely explained by open defecation, population density, and lack of sanitation and hygiene. The impact on nutrition of many faecally-transmitted infections, not just the diarrhoeas, has been a blind spot. In hygienic conditions much of the undernutrition in India would disappear. To tackle undernutrition effectively requires the elimination of open defecation and a radical transformation of sanitation and hygiene policies and practices.

This article by Robert Chambers (IDS) and Gregor von Medeazza (UNICEF) was first published in the Economic & Political Weekly (EPW) on June 22, 2013 vol xlvIiI no 25.

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