ABSTRACT

Prevalence of malnutrition in children (under 05) is not just a public health issue but also has long-term economic implications that have been emphasized in the study. The adverse impact of child malnutrition on the GDP of the country has been estimated alongside projecting the losses due to economic inconsistency as a result of loss in the future workforce. The “Consequence Model” has been used to obtain the empirical results for effective and data-driven policy recommendations. Further, online interviews with relevant stakeholders were conducted for detailed policy analysis and better outcomes. It has been found, that the total economic losses to GDP were estimated at 0.0125%, while the annual losses to the economy due to lost in the future workforce resulted in $1.82 Billion/year. Based on the policy analysis, the study concluded that preventive health measures such as growth monitoring, immunization, maternal health, and education can play a vital role in controlling the rates of prevalence and will have a high impact at a low cost. However, challenges like ‘institutional environment’ and ‘costing’ requires to be organized for existing programs and policies first before the implementation of newer strategies, procedures, and policies.