A Study the impact of health and nutrition on productivity and socio-economic status of Bhutan

Most of the past research has found that the average health and nutritional status in developing countries falls considerably short as compared to the developed countries. But in the recent decades the changes in such indices in the developing countries have been enormous and in many cases the absolute gaps between the developing countries and developed countries have been reduced. In the recent decades the economists have attended the determinants and impact of health and nutritional status towards exploring in the economic developmental practice by appropriate policy design. Health and nutrition are positively related to labour productivity or production organization and ultimately to the household income at the micro level and economic growth at the macro level of a country. Since, there is no sufficient data on nutrient status of the individuals in Bhutan which makes comprehensive difficulties in the said things of the country. Bhutanese mainly consume less vegetables and fruits and consume more cereals. Low dietary intake, inadequate child care and a high incidence of infections are causes for Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM). The non-exclusive breast feeding and inadequate complementary feeding of a mother influences uncertain growth status in young children. As a result of high priority given by RGoB to education the gross primary enrolment ratio increased to 81 percent in 2003 from 55 percent in 1991, an annual increase of 6 to 7 percent. The girls enrolment ratio has also risen significantly, to 47 percent from 39 percent for the same year. The economic growth of Bhutan was estimated as 6.5 percent in 1997-1998 and it was increased to 7.3 percent in 2001-2002. Real GDP of the country has stabilized at 5.6 percent per annum. Agriculture is the mainstay of the Bhutanese economy, however it grew more slowly. The contribution from this sector to GDP of the country in the first year of the ninth five year plan was 30 percent. The construction, manufacturing and electricity are the other main income sources of the country.