Punjab polls 2017: Robust Punjab but wasted children, anaemic men, women predominate

The popular caricature of Punjabis is of a robust, relatively rich people made that way by hearty eating and energetic living. The reality today: Wasting (low weight-for-height) among children has increased from 9.2% in 2005 to 15.6% in 2015, and one in four is still stunted (low height for age), according to an analysis of the latest government data, by the Observer Research Foundation.

As Punjab, once among India’s fastest-growing and richest states, prepares for assembly elections, it is now often termed as a “once rich” agrarian state, its economy declining and ill-health plaguing people of all ages.