New Delhi: The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has said in an RTI reply that there are more than 33 lakh children in the country malnourished and more than half of them fall in the severely malnourished category, with Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar topping the list. .
A total of 33.23 lakh is a compilation of data from 34 states and union territories, the ministry said in response to an RTI query by PTI.
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The numbers were registered on the Potion Tracker app, which was first developed in 2020 as a governance tool for real-time monitoring of nutritional outcomes.
The ministry estimates that there are 17,76,902 severely malnourished (SAM) children and 15,46,420 moderately acute malnourished (MAM) children as of October 14, 2021.
This has raised concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate health and nutrition crises among the poorest of the poor.
The number of SAM children has seen a 91 percent increase between November 2020 and October 14, 2021, from 9.27 lakh to 17.76 lakh now, a PTI report said.
The number of SAM children in the age group of six months to six years identified earlier in 2020 was counted by 36 states and union territories and conveyed to the central government.
The latest figures are through Potion Tracker where the numbers were directly entered by the Anganwadis and accessed by the Central Government.
However, the age group of the children has not been specified.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines SAM as being very underweight with height or mid-upper arm circumference less than 115 mm or the presence of nutritional edema. On the other hand, MAM is defined as moderate wasting and/or mid-upper-arm circumference that is greater than 115 mm or less than 125 mm.
Children with SAM are underweight for their height and nine times more likely to die of diseases due to their weakened immune systems, while children with MAM also have higher childhood morbidity and mortality. risk increases.
Maharashtra has the highest number of 6.16 lakh malnourished children, with 1.57 lakh MAM children and 4.58 lakh SAM children, according to an RTI reply quoting nutrition tracker.
Bihar is second on the list with 4.75 lakh malnourished children (3.23 lakh MAM children and 1.52 lakh SAM children).
Gujarat recorded the third highest number of such children with 1.55 lakh MAM children and 1.65 lakh SAM children at 3.20 lakh.
Stating that the COVID pandemic has negatively impacted almost all socio-economic indicators, Child Rights and You (CRY) CEO Pooja Marwah reacted to the numbers, saying it would help undo the progress made in the past decade. danger of.
“Services like ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) and mid-day meals in schools have become irregular during the prolonged closure of schools. This has disproportionately affected the children living in multi-dimensional poverty, as they are largely dependent on these services to fulfill their rights and entitlements,” PTI quoted Marwah as saying.
The CEO of CRY further said that unless the challenges related to adequacy in budgetary allocation to address barriers to access and nutritional security of children are addressed, the country will continue to suffer losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. would be unable to reduce it.
Meanwhile, Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director and Senior Pediatrician, Apollo Hospitals Group said that it is extremely important to recognize malnutrition at the earliest and initiate appropriate treatment to prevent malnutrition from getting worse.
“We know that malnourished children are more prone to infections, have less energy and perform less than their genetic potential in school,” Sibal said.
He said, “Management of malnutrition requires a holistic approach, focusing on adequate nutrition of pregnant and lactating women, exclusive breastfeeding for six months, proper weaning in the first few years of life and balanced nutrition.” involves doing.”
Manish Mannan, Head, Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Paras Hospitals, on his part said that children with severe acute malnutrition need to be treated with special therapeutic regimen along with diagnosis and management of complications during inpatient care.
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“Nutrition counseling has long been used as an approach to MAM management, where caregivers can have access to affordable food, and knowledge of appropriate care practices is not a barrier,” Mannan said.
“This approach is based on the assumption that nutritious food is available, but also that there is not enough awareness among caregivers about how to add foods to an appropriate diet for malnourished or at-risk children,” he said. .
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