Bengaluru: A recent study has revealed that one in three children are afflicted by stunted growth in Karnataka, according to a report by TOI.
The study, conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research, estimated that nearly 35 per cent of children (below the age of 5 years) in 2017 were stunted in growth.
The researchers studied trends in child and maternal malnutrition data sets collected between 1990 and 2017. Indian states were divided into three groups based on a Social demographic index (SDI) that was derived from factors such as mean education, fertility rate, and per capita income. Karnataka, along with eleven other states, was categorized under the middle SDI head.
India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Director Lalit Dandona said that certain indicators in the study reveal a strategic plan that can be adopted by Karnataka to meet the goals laid out in the National Nutrition Mission 2022 and the UNICEF/WHO Mission 2030.
Dandona said, “This study further requires follow-up investigations into the possible reasons for the slow progress in achieving good nutrition status. For a given age, there is an indicative height. Though the Karnataka data is better than the national average of 30 per cent in terms of stunting, there are areas of concerns which need to be looked into.”
Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health former director Dr Asha Benakappa said that the children who showed stunted growth may have lacked nutritious food for nearly six months since stunting is a result of chronic malnutrition.
Benakappa said, “Acute malnutrition affects the weight of a child, but chronic malnutrition affects the height, which can’t be easily regained. To get back the height that’s lost during a child’s growth is tough. Nutritious food consumed by the mother during pregnancy also plays a vital role in the child’s growth. The health of the mother’s womb determines her child’s health.”
“A lack of awareness and prevailing myths about nutritious food to be provided to a child are major issues which have to be tackled,” she added.
The study also found that over 60 per cent of children (under 5 years) in the state are anaemic and nearly 32 per cent were found to be underweight. Providing anaemic children with daily meals and iron supplements is the responsibility of the state, as per the law.
