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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Nutrition red flag in survey -GS Mudur

Nutrition red flag in survey -GS Mudur

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published Published on Oct 2, 2017   modified Modified on Oct 2, 2017
-The Telegraph

New Delhi: The prevalence of low body weight, stunting and wasting is "significantly higher" among children from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, according to a government survey that nutrition experts say underscores challenges that demand solutions beyond just the availability of more food.

The survey, carried out this year, has documented 39 per cent stunting (impaired growth with possible long-term impacts) among boys below five years from Dalit households and 34 per cent among those from tribal families.

For the backward classes and the rest of the population, the corresponding figures are just under 28 and 27 per cent, respectively.

Nutrition NIN

The survey by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, which covered over 48,000 people from 12,000 urban households across 16 states, found similar patterns across the parameters of under-nutrition (underweight children) and wasting, a condition marked by severe weight loss.

Each of the conditions of being underweight (weight against age), stunted (height against age) and wasted (weight against height) gives an independent measurement of malnourishment, which means the figures cannot be added.

The survey also found that the prevalence of poor nutrition was higher among children from households with low per capita income, illiterate fathers and lack of access to sanitary latrines.

Nutrition specialists said the higher prevalence of poor nutrition among socially disadvantaged groups could potentially amplify their disadvantages, and advocated broader strategies to tackle poor nutrition.

"These results show that poor nutrition can't just be solved by doling out food, such as through supplementary feeding programmes," said Suparna Ghosh-Jerath, additional professor at the Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi, who was not associated with the survey.

"Lack of education and nutritional awareness, unhealthy household environment, inadequate child care, household food insecurity and lack of human, social, political and financial resources -- all of these factors can influence the nutritional status of children," she said.

"For example, poor sanitation can contribute to infections or worm infestations, which can exacerbate under-nutrition."

The consistently better numbers for girls across parameters and social groups in the survey seemed to challenge the conventional wisdom that families feed sons better than daughters.

But scientist Avula Laxmaiah, who led the survey, said studies across urban and some rural areas over the past two decades had found girls consistently better nourished than boys although discrimination was evident in education and health care.

He said the exact reason was unclear and some have speculated that girls expend less energy than boys and thus show higher nutrition levels.

Stunting had the highest prevalence in Uttar Pradesh (40 per cent), Maharashtra (36), Delhi (35) and Bengal (34). Wasting was highest among children from the Scheduled Castes (18 per cent).

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The Telegraph, 2 October, 2017, https://www.telegraphindia.com/1171002/jsp/frontpage/story_175793.jsp#.WdGUHMbPzgQ.twitter


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