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Serious malnutrition problem in India: ILO
By agencies
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Tuesday, 15 November 2005, 20:30 IST
NEW DELHI:The International Labor Organization Monday said inadequate attention to workers' nutrition might be costing India up to $28 million every year in terms of loss of productivity.
Describing it as a "very serious problem," the ILO report said globally, poor diet on the job was costing countries up to 20 percent in lost productivity - either due to malnutrition that affects some billion people in developing countries or overweight afflicting an equal number in industrialized nations.
"In India, the cost of lost productivity, illness and death due to malnutrition is $10-28 million, between 3 to 9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product," the study titled "Food and Work" said.
Poor nutrition and poor meal programs result in low productivity and absenteeism and affect the long-term health of the workers, Bill Salters, Conditions of Work and Environment Program senior advisor said.
He said India is facing both under nutrition and over nutrition, resulting in malnutrition and obese-related diseases, while workers in developing countries are reeling under the problem of excess weight.
In fact, deaths from cardiovascular disease among working-age man aged between 35 and 64 are three to four times more likely in India than they are in the United States, the study, the first to examine workplace eating habits worldwide said.