A child can eat enough every day and still lack the iron her body needs. She may just seem tired, or slow to keep up in class. Nobody notices.
In a Sept. 7, 2026, column for Times Now, Ankur Garg, Executive Vice President and India Country Director for Evidence Action, argues that micronutrient deficiencies, often called hidden hunger, deserve the same urgency India has given to hunger itself.
The burden is large. India's National Family Health Survey found anemia in 67.1% of children aged 6 to 59 months, 59.1% of adolescent girls aged 15 to 19, and 31.1% of adolescent boys of the same age.
Anemia carries across generations. A girl who is anemic at 14 is more likely to become an anemic mother with a low-birth-weight baby. Breaking that cycle is central to India's nutrition goals.
Government leads, at a scale only government can. India delivers iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements through schools and Anganwadi centres. Coverage in the government's Anemia Mukt Bharat scorecards has risen sharply. Among adolescents aged 10 to 19, it grew from just above 19% to more than 72%.
"A child can consume enough calories every day and still carry a deficiency that quietly shapes how she learns, how she grows, and how healthy her own children will one day be," Ankur writes.
Through our technical partner in India, EAII Advisors, we support the government to turn anemia prevention policy into reliable delivery: strengthening supply chains so tablets reach every classroom on time, and training frontline workers to give supplements correctly and consistently.