Maternal undernutrition is a critical public health problem. For e.g. in India one in four women in the reproductive age reported to be underweight. Maternal undernutrition leads to low birth weight (LBW) and LBW children grow as undernourished stunted children. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic poses an increased threat to maternal and child undernutrition, and compels us to reflect on the causes of maternal and child nutrition, and reaffirm the focus to improve the status.

Food security entails ensuring adequate food supply to people, especially those who are deprived of basic nutrition. Food insecurity remains a global issue. It is a significant issue to both developed and developing countries. Achieving food security goal necessitates emphasizing nutrition in all four pillars of food security targeting policies, designs, and interventions fostering nutrition-sensitive agriculture, driving economic prosperity, and promoting food systems that prioritize access to safe, nutritious, sufficient, and high-quality food for all.

The dual burden of underweight and overweight/obesity is alarming and urgent public health measures need to be considered along with data driven evidence based policy initiatives.

It is necessary to understand the existence of the dual burden of undernutrition and overnutrition among populations living in diverse settings due to unequal patterns of economic development, and demographic and epidemiological transitions occurring differently across different regions.