Image Courtesy:businesstoday.in

Smriti Irani, the Minister of Women and Child Development, referred to the recently released report of National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-20) to give details about malnourished children in the country.

As per the latest data between 2019 to 2020, Bihar has the highest number of underweight children at 41 percent. This is followed by Gujarat at 39.7 percent and Dadar & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu at 38.7 percent. Maharashtra has recorded 36.1 percent underweight children, Karnataka is at 32.9 percent, Assam at 32.8 percent, West Bengal at 32.2 percent and Telangana at 31.8 percent. Mizoram has the lowest number of underweight children (12.7 percent).

Between 2018 and 2019, Dadar reported 35.8 percent underweight children, 3 percent less than the latest data. Similarly, there has been a 0.5 percent increase in Gujarat, 0.1 percent in Maharashtra, 3 percent in Assam and 0.6 percent in West Bengal. Out of the 22 States and UTs, 17 have reported an increase in the percentage of underweight children from 2018-2019 to 2019-2020. Nagaland has the highest disparity, with around 16 percent underweight children in 2018 to 2019, which increased to 26.9 percent between 2019 and 2020. Here are some more statistics in percentage regarding stunted children:

In terms of stunted children, Manipur is the leading State at 46.5 percent between 2019 and 2020, a 2.7 percent increase since 2018 and 2019. This is followed by Bihar at 42.9 percent, Dadar & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu at 39.4 percent and Gujarat at 39 percent. Here are some more statistics in percentage regarding stunted children:

The Centre could not provide the latest data for states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Odisha. But data from 2018 to 2019 reveals the grim situation of children in these regions. Jharkhand seems to be in a bad condition with about 45.3 percent stunted children and 47.8 percent underweight children. Uttar Pradesh is not far behind with 46.3 percent stunted children and 39.5 percent underweight children. Rajasthan has 39.1 percent stunted children and 36.7 percent malnourished children.

Earlier, during the Budget Session of 2021, the same Minister of Women and Child Development had provided in her written answer that 21.9 percent children were stunted, 35.2 percent were underweight in the age group of 5 – 9 years and 24.1 percent children were underweight in the age group of 10-19 years between 2016 and 2018, as we has previously reported in SabrangIndia.

The answer may be read here:

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