The Double Burden

Written by Stuart Gillespie and Lawrence J. Haddad of the International Food Policy Research Institute and published in the year 2003, this book attempts to deal with a major problem of “the double burden of malnutrition in Asia’. The publishers have made a genuine attempt to make it accessibile by pricing it at Rs. 235.00, a level almost unknown for academic publications these days. However, despite their attempts at fairness of distribution, this book falls far short of being either scientific or realistic in dealing with this major issue, that blights the lives of millions throughout the world. In fact the approach that it adopts is more likely to mislead already misled policy makers, seated in the power centres of the world, outside and within the zones of poverty and hunger! Divided into seven chapters, the book begins by assessing the problem of malnutrition in Asia and then discusses the importance of direct action on nutrition, developing capacity for nutrition actions, as well as ‘indirect action’ and ‘relevant actions’. These four chapters are followed by another three on the contextual dynamics, the meaning of nutrition interventions, and finally, outline ways forward in policymaking.