Over 35.5% of kids are stunted
The government said they are releasing targets for curbing malnutrition in the country, specifically among children and union women. Child development minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday in a written statement tabled in Rajya Sabha said that they aim at reducing stunting and under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) among children under 6 years by 2% per annum. The Ministry also stated that it aims at reducing low birth weight by 2% per annum. To reduce anaemia among children between 6 and 59 months as well as women and adolescent girls from 15 to 49 years by at least 3% per annum.
As per the findings of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) for the years 2019-21nutrition indicators for children under 5 have improved over the conditions recorded in NFHS-4 (2015-2016). Stunting has reduced a massive from 38.4% to 35.5%, wasting from a total of 21% to 19.3% and underweight prevalence is down from 35.8% to 32.1% according to the data.
Women from ages 15 to 49 years whose BMI is below normal have reduced from 22.9% in NFHS-4 to 18.7% in NFHS-5. Despite the decreases, the nutrition experts have said that India still has one of the highest burdens of malnutrition in the world.
Meghalaya has the number of stunted children in the country with 46.5%, followed by Bihar with 42.9% as per the data released on Wednesday. Assam, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have recorded stunted children higher than the national average of 35.5%. As per the records, Maharashtra has the highest number of wasted children with 25.6% (weight for height), followed by Gujarat at 25.1%.
The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.