Even within India, the heterogeneity is stark. If you take a train from the north of the country to the east, stopping in small towns, as Rohit did sometime ago, you will clearly notice how the average height decreases steadily from Punjab and Haryana to western Uttar Pradesh (UP) and then eastern UP and Bihar. Our people are simply less nourished in UP and Bihar than in Punjab and Haryana. According to the National Family Health Survey 2019–21, stunting in Punjab is 24 per cent, and in Bihar it is 43 per cent; moreover, 12 per cent of women in Punjab have body mass index below normal, and it
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