Lok Sabha Question No. 2274 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-23
Subject: Malnutrition among Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rahul Kaswan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 2274

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.09.2020

## MALNUTRITION AMONG CHILDREN

## 2274. SHRI RAHUL KASWAN:

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

- (a) whether the prevalence of malnutrition is highest in the country globally;
- (b) Whether the Government is aware that forty four percent children below the age of three years are suffering from malnutrition;
- (c) If so, the details thereof, State-wise including Rajasthan;
- (d) the names and details of such States where the number of children suffering from malnutrition are the highest; and
- (e) the corrective steps taken by Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (d)  National  Family  Health  Survey -3 (2005-06)  provides  the  data  on malnourishment  status  of  children  below  the  age  of  3  years.  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.

As per the report of NFHS-4 conducted in 2015-16, 35.7% children under 5 years of  age  are  underweight  and  38.4%  are  stunted.  Whereas,  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.

(e)  This  Ministry  implements  Anganwadi  Services,  Pradhan  Mantri  Matru  Vandana Yojana  and  Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development  Services  Scheme  (ICDS)  as  targeted  interventions  to  address  the problem of malnutrition in the country.

Further,  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  has  been  launched  in  March  2018  to  achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women  and  Lactating  Mothers  in  a  time  bound  manner  by  leveraging  technology, convergence and Jan Andolan.

*******

## Statement referred to in reply to part (b) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No.  2274 due for answer on 23.09.2020, raised by SHRI RAHUL KASWAN

## 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  |