Lok Sabha Question No. 2869 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-12
Subject: Malnourished Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Narendra Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2869

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.03.2021

## MALNOURISHED CHILDREN

## 2869.  SHRI NARENDRA KUMAR:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the  prevalence  of  malnourishment  in  India  is  among  the  highest  in  the world and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  taken  note  of  the  fact  that  44  percent  of  children under 3 years of age are malnourished and if so, the details thereof along with the number of such children, State/UT-wise including Rajasthan;
- (c) the name and details of states having highest number of malnourished children; and
- (d) the connective steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)  to  (d)         As  per  reports,  the  prevalence  of  mal-nourishment  in  India  is  not  the highest  in  the  world.  As  per  NFHS-3,  the  prevalence  of  stunting  and  underweight among  children  under  3  years  of  age  was  44.9%  and  40.4%  respectively.  The State/UT-wise details including Rajasthan are annexed.

However,  the  prevalence  of  malnutrition  among  children  in  the  country  has reduced as per data of NFHS-4 (2015-16) and CNNS (2016-18). As per the report of NFHS-4, 35.7% children under 5 years of age are underweight and 38.4% are stunted. As per the report of Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) (2016-18), the prevalence of underweight and stunting among children is 33.4% and 34.7%respectively, which indicates a reduction when compared to the levels reported by NFHS-4.

Government has taken measures to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and  outcomes  with  focus  on  developing  practices  that  nurture  health,  wellness  and immunity to disease and malnutrition. Steps have also been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing, strengthen delivery and leverage technology to improve governance.  Government  has  advised  States/UTs  to  ensure  that  the  quality  of supplementary  nutrition  conforms  to  prescribed  standards  laid  down  under  the  Food Safety  and  Standards  Act,  2006  and  regulations  made  thereunder.  States/UTs  have also been advised to promote use of AYUSH systems for prevention of malnutrition and related diseases. A programme  to support development of  Poshan Vatikas at Anganwadi  centers  to  meet  dietary  diversity  gap  leveraging  traditional  knowledge  in nutritional practices has also been taken up.

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Annexure

## Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (b)  of  Lok  Sabha  UN-Starred  Question No.  2869 due for answer on 12.03.2021, raised by SHRI NARENDRA KUMAR

Prevalence of Underweight and Stunting among children under 3 years of age as per NFHS-3 (2005-06)

|   S. No. | State/UT          |   Stunting (%) |   Underweight (%) |
|----------|-------------------|----------------|-------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh    |           38.4 |             29.8  |
|        2 | Arunachal Pradesh |           37   |             29.7  |
|        3 | Assam             |           41.1 |             35.8  |
|        4 | Bihar             |           50.1 |             54.9  |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh      |           52.6 |             47.8  |
|        6 | Delhi             |           43.2 |             24.9  |
|        7 | Goa               |           25.9 |             21.3  |
|        8 | Gujarat           |           49.2 |             41.1  |
|        9 | Haryana           |           43.3 |             38.2  |
|       10 | Himachal Pradesh  |           34.3 |             31.1  |
|       11 | Jammu & Kashmir   |           31.1 |             24    |
|       12 | Jharkhand         |           47.2 |             54.6  |
|       13 | Karnataka         |           42.4 |             33.3  |
|       14 | Kerala            |           26.5 |             21.1  |
|       15 | Madhya Pradesh    |           46.5 |             57.9  |
|       16 | Maharashtra       |           44   |             32.7  |
|       17 | Manipur           |           29   |             19.5  |
|       18 | Meghalaya         |           47.7 |             42.9  |
|       19 | Mizoram           |           35.1 |             14.2  |
|       20 | Nagaland          |           34.1 |             23.7  |
|       21 | Odisha            |           43.9 |             39.5  |
|       22 | Punjab            |           34.7 |             23.63 |
|       23 | Rajasthan         |           40.1 |             36.8  |
|       24 | Sikkim            |           31.8 |             17.3  |
|       25 | Tamil Nadu        |           31.1 |             25.9  |
|       26 | Tripura           |           34.1 |             35.2  |
|       27 | Uttar Pradesh     |           52.4 |             41.6  |
|       28 | Uttarakhand       |           39.6 |             31.7  |
|       29 | West Bengal       |           41.8 |             37.6  |