Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follows:…
2025
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follows:
India has the highest number of malnourished children in the world with Madhya Pradesh being the worst-affected state. About 47% children under five in the country, totalling 57 million, are underweight. Even sub-Saharan Africa is better off, with 33% of children malnourished. These shocking figures have been mentioned in UNICEF's 'Progress for Children - A Report Card on Nutrition', released globally. The other badly affected states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Bihar and Maharashtra. Over 50% children in some of these states are malnourished. However, some Indian states have better report cards. Malnourishment among children is significantly low in Goa, Kerala, Mizoram and Tamil Nadu. According to Dr Werner Schultink, UNICEF India's chief of Child Development and Nutrition Programme, the causes for this malnutrition are many: bad quality feeding, high population density, high rate of infectious diseases, high rate of illiteracy among women, gender inequality, low rate of immunisation and high rate of birth of underweight babies.
What is concerning about India?
- A.
Its growing number of population
- B.
Its comparison with Africa's children
- C.
Its report cards that are published globally
- D.
Its increasing number of malnourished children
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
In a Reading Comprehension 'central concern' question, the correct option is the one whose SUBJECT MATTER and severity match the passage's central claim -- not a cause it lists, a comparison it draws, or the source it cites for its data.
The passage's central claim is that India has the highest number of malnourished children in the world, quantified at about 47% of children under five (57 million) being underweight -- a level the passage itself calls 'shocking'. Every other detail -- the comparison with sub-Saharan Africa, the state-wise breakdown, the UNICEF report citation, and the causes listed by Dr Werner Schultink -- supports or explains this one central, worrying fact about malnutrition, not a different topic.
Checking each option against this:
"Its growing number of population" -- population density is listed only as one cause of malnutrition among several; the passage's central claim is about malnutrition figures, not population size.
"Its comparison with Africa's children" -- the sub-Saharan Africa figure is a supporting comparison used to show severity, not the central claim itself.
"Its report cards that are published globally" -- this names where the data came from (UNICEF's report), not what the data actually shows about India.
"Its increasing number of malnourished children" -- of the four options, this is the only one about the malnutrition figures themselves; it matches the passage's central claim (highest number in the world, 47%/57 million underweight) more closely than a cause, a comparison, or a source citation, even though the passage does not itself use the word 'increasing'.
So, among the options offered, the best-supported concern about India is its large, world-highest number of malnourished children.