Business World published a podcast with executive editor for public policy, Neeta Misra who spoke with Purnima Menon, senior research fellow on the impact of the pandemic on malnutrition. Menon said we know that a lot of what we see on malnutrition is affected by what happens in food systems, health systems, and what happens in society in the lives of girls and women. Every system took a hit. The economic systems, whether people have enough money to feed the family; health took a hit, education suffered as girls fell out of school, early pregnancies, and other things that affect how children grow and thrive. What we also saw during the pandemic was that governments made efforts because more had to be done. There were greater efforts with social protection. There were many bright spots in this very dark time. We won't know the true impact of all of those hits for many years. It will take time to know the long-term impacts on human health.
