Malnutrition in state sees dip
The findings of the first Independent Nutrition Survey conducted for the period 2004 to 2012 for children under two years of age in Maharashtra, in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fun (Unicef) and International Institute of Population Studies (IIPS) revealed a remarkable reduction in malnutrition, said governor of the state K. Sanakaranarayanan while addressing the joint session of the Maharashtra state legislature.
“The under-weight (weight-for-age) percentage has reduced from 29.6 per cent in 2005-06 to to 21.8 per cent in 2012,” the governor said.
The IIPS researchers surveyed stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height) and under-weight (low weight-for-age) from March to May 2012 across 3,000 households in Maharashtra that had at least one child aged below two. Children aged up to six were studied in these households. These were the same parameters studied by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 in 2005-06 in about 5,000 households in Maharashtra with children aged below six, said IIPS and state officials.
IIPS discovered that stunting, an indicator of chronic malnutrition in children, stood at 22.8 per cent. In 2005-06, the NFHS 3 put the figure at 39 per cent. Wasting fell from 20 per cent in 2005-06 to 15.5 per cent this year. State officials said the scientific methodology of the IIPS and NFHS-3 reports are almost similar and, therefore, comparisons are fair. The report is also learnt to make these comparisons.
The IIPS-UNICEF Comprehensive Nutrition Survey studies more than just malnutrition indicators, and was independently carried out to help review the implementation of various programmes across Maharashtra.
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