Lok Sabha Question No. 2851 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-17
Subject: Malnutrition in Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Hanuman Beniwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2851

TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2023

## MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN

## 2851. SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL:

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

- a. whether the Government has conducted any study regarding the main reasons behind malnutrition in children in various States of the country including Rajasthan;
- b. if so, the details of the reasons identified in the said study;
- c. the amount provided by the Union Government to the Rajasthan Government for the prevention of malnutrition during the last five years along with the details of amount spent out of the said fund; and
- d. the number of deaths reported on account of malnutrition during the last five years, State-wise?

## ANSWER

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

(a  &  b)      Malnutrition  is  a  complex  and  multi-dimensional  issue,  affected  mainly  by  a number  of  generic  factors  including  inadequate  food  consumption  due  to  access  and availability  issues,  improper  maternal  infant  and  child  feeding  and  care  practices,  inequity and gender imbalances, poor sanitary and environmental conditions, etc.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare  has estimated  number  of  underweight,  malnourished  and  severely  malnourished children under 5 years of age. As per the recent report of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years have improved as compared with NFHS-4 (2015-16). Wasting  has  improved  from  21%  (NFHS-4)  to  19.3  %  (NFHS-5),  Under-weight  has improved from 35.7% (NFHS-4) to 32.1% (NFHS-5) and stunting has improved from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 35.5% (NFHS-5)

- (c)        POSHAN Abhiyaan, a flagship scheme of the Government was launched in 2018 to address the malaise of malnutrition by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. Further,  the  efforts  under  the  Supplementary  Nutrition  Programme  under  Anganwadi Services,  Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls  and  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  have  been  aligned  as ' Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 ' for maximizing nutritional outcomes.

Under Poshan Abhiyaan, an amount of Rs. 22904.21 lakh (as on 31.03.2022) has been released  to  the  State  of  Rajasthan  since  the  launch  of  Poshan  Abhiyaan,  out  of  which  Rs. 12258.06 lakh have been utlised, as reported by the State.

The  details of funds released and utilized under the  supplementary nutrition programme during the last 5 years is as under:

| Financial Year   |   Funds released (Rs. in Lakhs) |   Funds Utilized (Rs. Lakhs) |
|------------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 2017-18          |                         34931.9 |                      36660.8 |
| 2018-19          |                         34950.7 |                      29599.8 |
| 2019-20          |                         29913.6 |                      28231.7 |
| 2020-21          |                         34894.5 |                      36702.7 |
| 2021-22          |                         31399.2 |                      43424.6 |

(d)        Malnutrition  is  not  a  direct  cause  of  death;  however,  it  can  increase  morbidity  and mortality by reducing resistance to infections. None of the States have reported deaths due to malnutrition.

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