Lok Sabha Question No. 926 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-25
Subject: Malnutrition in Tribal Children
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka

## GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 926 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 TH JULY 2025

## MALNUTRITION IN TRIBALCHILDREN

## 926. SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) the total number and percentage of tribal children under five years who are stunted, wasted and underweight in the country, State/UT-wise;

(b) the number and percentage of tribal women (ages 15-49) who are underweight or anaemic in the country, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether the Government has identified any States or districts where malnutrition levels among tribal populations exceed the national average and if so, the details of targeted programmes being implemented; and

(d) the current Status of POSHAN Abhiyaan, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDSs) in these areas in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL)

(a) and (b) As per National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), the prevalence of malnutrition in children under 5 years and prevalence of anaemia and thinness in women age 15-49 years among scheduled tribe across the country and State/UT wise is placed at Annexure I .

(c) The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare implements Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy in a life cycle approach under National Health Mission (NHM), which includes interventions to address malnutrition and anaemia in women and children across the country, including Scheduled Tribes (STs) as placed below:

-  Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers (NRCs) are set up at public health facilities to provide in-patient medical and nutritional care to children under 5 years suffering from Severe Acute Malnourishment (SAM) with medical complications with special focus on improving the skills of mothers and caregivers on timely, adequate and appropriate feeding for children.
-  Mothers' Absolute Affection (MAA) Programme is implemented to improve breastfeeding coverage which includes early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding for first six months followed by counselling on age-appropriate complementary feeding practices.

-  Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy is implemented to reduce anemia among six beneficiaries age group - children (6-59 months), children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and in women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanism.
-  Under National Deworming Day (NDD) albendazole tablets are administered in a single fixed day approach via schools and Anganwadi centres in two rounds (February and August) to reduce the soil transmitted helminth (STH) infestation among all children and adolescents (1-19 years).
-  Lactation Management Centres : are established to provide lactation support to mothers and to facilitate expression of mother's own milk and ensure availability of safe, pasteurized Donor Human Milk for feeding of sick, preterm and low birth weight babies admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Special Newborn Care Units.
-  Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) are observed for provision of maternal and child health services and creating awareness on maternal and child care including nutrition in convergence with Ministry of Women and Child Development.

(d) As shared by Ministry of Women and Child Development, status of Poshan Abhiyan with number of tribal children under 5 years who are Stunted, Wasted and Underweight as per Poshan tracker data for June-2025 month are placed at Annexure II.

Annexure I State/UT-wise prevalence of malnutrition in children under age 5 years and thinness and

## anaemia in women age 15-49 years among scheduled tribe (Source: NFHS-5, 2019-21)

| S No.   | State/UT          |   Children under 5 years who are stunted |   Children under 5 years who are wasted |   Children under 5 years who are underweight |   Women age 15- 49 years who are anaemic |   Women age 15 -49 years with BMI below normal |
|---------|-------------------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| INDIA   | INDIA             |                                     40.9 |                                    23.2 |                                         39.5 |                                     64.6 |                                           25.5 |
| 1       | Andaman &Nicobar  |                                     21.9 |                                    15.8 |                                         18.1 |                                     30.5 |                                            6.4 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh    |                                     44.5 |                                    20   |                                         45.2 |                                     62.6 |                                           21   |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh |                                     27.9 |                                    13.2 |                                         13.7 |                                     36.3 |                                            4.2 |
| 4       | Assam             |                                     31   |                                    19.1 |                                         26.4 |                                     69.2 |                                           11.8 |
| 5       | Bihar             |                                     46.9 |                                    23.8 |                                         45.9 |                                     64.7 |                                           29.7 |
| 6       | Chandigarh        |                                     61.9 |                                    61.9 |                                         61.9 |                                      0   |                                            0   |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh      |                                     38.6 |                                    21   |                                         36   |                                     70.9 |                                           29.3 |
| 8       | DNH&DD            |                                     50.5 |                                    23.9 |                                         51.4 |                                     70.9 |                                           31.2 |
| 9       | Delhi             |                                     36.2 |                                     9.9 |                                         31.7 |                                     51.5 |                                            6.4 |
| 10      | Goa               |                                     27.1 |                                    21.2 |                                         14.7 |                                     42.5 |                                           17.1 |
| 11      | Gujarat           |                                     46.1 |                                    30.3 |                                         49.1 |                                     78.3 |                                           35.1 |
| 12      | Haryana           |                                     22.2 |                                    12.7 |                                         20.6 |                                     64.2 |                                           20.4 |
| 13      | Himachal Pradesh  |                                     31.3 |                                    15   |                                         20.3 |                                     53.8 |                                           13.7 |
| 14      | Jammu &Kashmir    |                                     28.3 |                                    19.3 |                                         24.7 |                                     68.6 |                                            6.5 |
| 15      | Jharkhand         |                                     45.1 |                                    25.7 |                                         47.4 |                                     72   |                                           28   |
| 16      | Karnataka         |                                     41.2 |                                    22.2 |                                         36.7 |                                     46.2 |                                           21.5 |
| 17      | Kerala            |                                     32.4 |                                    14.8 |                                         21.8 |                                     52.9 |                                           18.9 |
| 18      | Ladakh            |                                     34.8 |                                    17.4 |                                         22.6 |                                     92.4 |                                            4.7 |
| 19      | Lakshadweep       |                                     36.1 |                                    16.6 |                                         23.7 |                                     24.2 |                                            8.4 |
| 20      | Madhya Pradesh    |                                     40.4 |                                    21.2 |                                         39.5 |                                     64.2 |                                           27.5 |
| 21      | Maharashtra       |                                     43.1 |                                    33.9 |                                         46.3 |                                     59.7 |                                           30.2 |
| 22      | Manipur           |                                     27.1 |                                    10.2 |                                         12.7 |                                     26.8 |                                            6.2 |
| 23      | Meghalaya         |                                     46.4 |                                    11.9 |                                         25.9 |                                     53.3 |                                           11   |
| 24      | Mizoram           |                                     28.7 |                                     9.5 |                                         12.6 |                                     34.3 |                                            5.4 |
| 25      | Nagaland          |                                     32.7 |                                    17.9 |                                         26.2 |                                     27.7 |                                           10.9 |
| 26      | Odisha            |                                     42.9 |                                    22.7 |                                         42.1 |                                     71.7 |                                           30.7 |
| 27      | Puducherry        |                                      0   |                                     0   |                                          0   |                                     67.3 |                                           14.6 |
| 28      | Punjab            |                                     27.7 |                                     0   |                                         16.9 |                                     54.4 |                                           15.8 |
| 29      | Rajasthan         |                                     35.4 |                                    18.7 |                                         31.9 |                                     61.6 |                                           24.8 |
| 30      | Sikkim            |                                     23   |                                    10.4 |                                         16   |                                     42.6 |                                            4.2 |
| 31      | Tamil Nadu        |                                     28.4 |                                    20.3 |                                         30.7 |                                     59   |                                           19.6 |
| 32      | Telangana         |                                     34.3 |                                    23.5 |                                         33.5 |                                     64   |                                           21.5 |
| 33      | Tripura           |                                     34.4 |                                    20.4 |                                         30.7 |                                     66.8 |                                           12.4 |
| 34      | Uttar Pradesh     |                                     47.1 |                                    23.4 |                                         47.3 |                                     51.1 |                                           22.3 |
| 35      | Uttarakhand       |                                     25.3 |                                    10.5 |                                         16.8 |                                     56   |                                           15.1 |
| 36      | West Bengal       |                                     37.7 |                                    25.6 |                                         43.3 |                                     82.4 |                                           22.7 |

## Annexure II

## State/UT wise status of Poshan Abhiyan: Number of tribal children under 5 years who are malnourished (Source: Poshan Tracker data-June 2025)

| State/UT                         |   Stunted Children |   Wasted Children |   Underweight Children |
|----------------------------------|--------------------|-------------------|------------------------|
| Andaman &Nicobar                 |                 42 |                 4 |                     10 |
| Andhra Pradesh                   |              33143 |             10039 |                  18620 |
| Arunachal Pradesh                |              14835 |              2060 |                   4531 |
| Assam                            |              69136 |              6503 |                  22781 |
| Bihar                            |              13608 |              3018 |                   7622 |
| Chhattisgarh                     |             216955 |             64645 |                 121690 |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli - Daman &Diu |               9591 |               820 |                   4350 |
| Delhi                            |                  0 |                 0 |                      0 |
| Goa                              |                  0 |                 0 |                      0 |
| Gujarat                          |             171570 |             37695 |                 111862 |
| Haryana                          |                  0 |                 0 |                      0 |
| Himachal Pradesh                 |               1852 |               238 |                    645 |
| J&K                              |               5044 |               480 |                   1456 |
| Jharkhand                        |             212663 |             31577 |                 105485 |
| Karnataka                        |                381 |                32 |                    171 |
| Kerala                           |               1832 |               304 |                    981 |
| Ladakh                           |               1551 |                31 |                    250 |
| Lakshadweep                      |               1474 |               382 |                    741 |
| Madhya Pradesh                   |             469828 |            106108 |                 322504 |
| Maharashtra                      |             357472 |             34893 |                 191637 |
| Manipur                          |               9923 |               904 |                   3292 |
| Meghalaya                        |              52451 |              2600 |                  13109 |
| Mizoram                          |              17258 |              1864 |                   3993 |
| Nagaland                         |              12697 |              2797 |                   3152 |
| Odisha                           |             116077 |             17505 |                  60776 |
| Puducherry                       |                  0 |                 0 |                      0 |
| Punjab                           |                  0 |                 0 |                      0 |
| Rajasthan                        |             164870 |             36129 |                 101803 |
| Sikkim                           |                227 |                36 |                     44 |
| Tamil Nadu                       |               8072 |              1894 |                   3855 |
| Telangana                        |              38946 |              7766 |                  20690 |
| Tripura                          |              23978 |              4945 |                  10649 |
| UT-Chandigarh                    |                  0 |                 0 |                      0 |
| Uttar Pradesh                    |                129 |                 5 |                     64 |
| Uttarakhand                      |               2595 |               204 |                    774 |
| West Bengal                      |             130525 |             27609 |                  48945 |