However, there is a reduction in the prevalence of child malnutrition with the proportion of underweight children decreasing by 20.3% over a seven-year period.
Over 40% of children under five in 100 focus districts in India are underweight -- double the average for sub-Saharan Africa -- and 59% stunted, reveals a survey report on hunger and malnutrition released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday.
“In the 100 focus districts, 42% of children under five are underweight and 59% are stunted,” says the report by HUNGaMA (Hunger and Malnutrition).
It says prevalence of malnutrition is significantly higher among children from low income families. “Children from Muslim or scheduled caste or scheduled tribe households generally have worst nutrition indicators.”
The report says that in the 100 focus districts, 51% mothers did not give colostrum to newborns soon after birth and 58% mothers fed water to their infants before six months.
The survey notes that girls seemed to have nutrition advantage over boys in the first months of life. “However, this advantage seems to get reversed over time as girls and boys grow older, potentially indicating feeding and care neglect vis-a-vis girls in infancy and early childhood.”
It says that in the 100 focus districts, 66% mothers did not attend school and the ratio of underweight children was significantly higher among mothers with low levels of education.
“The prevalence of underweight children among mothers who cannot read is 45% while that among mothers with 10 or more years of education is 27%. The corresponding figures for child stunting are 63 and 43%, respectively. It was also found that 92% mothers had never heard the word malnutrition.”
“11% mothers said they used soap to wash hands before a meal and 19% do so after a visit to the toilet in the 100 focus districts,” the report adds.
The report points out that with nearly 43% of children underweight (weight deficit for their age) proportion of underweight children in India was twice higher than the average figure in sub-Saharan Africa.
“The consequences of this nutrition crisis are enormous. In addition to being the attributable cause of one-third to one-half of child deaths, malnutrition causes stunted physical growth. The economic losses associated with malnutrition are estimated at 3% of India's gross domestic product annually.”
On the positive side, the report says there is reduction in prevalence of child malnutrition with proportion of underweight children decreasing by 20.3% over a seven-year period (2004-11) with an average annual rate of reduction of 2.9%.
The report says there is an anganwadi centre in 96% of the villages in the 100 focus districts, 61% of them in pucca buildings.
Rohini Mukherjee, team leader of the HUNGaMA survey report, said the survey was aimed at getting latest data on child nutrition in India.
She said that of the 112 districts surveyed in the report, 100 were selected from the bottom of child development district index developed for UNICEF-India in 2009. These 100 districts are spread over six states.
Mukherjee said the HUNGaMA survey was triggered as an idea by the Citizen's Alliance against Malnutrition, a group that includes MPs across party lines and many other prominent personalities.
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