5,000 kids below 5 years severely malnourished: Report

Of the 2.67 lakh malnourished children below the age of five in the district, about 5,000 are severely malnourished. The zilla parishad’s (ZP) woman and child welfare department has prepared a report on the issue.

Officer at the department, Nandini Dhanekar, told reporters on Tuesday that the report was prepared as per the norms of the World Health Organisation (WHO). She said as per the child growth standards set by WHO, the ZP has compiled the information for children below five years of age.

The ZP would be taking measures to prevent malnutrition and was considering providing meals at the doorstep, instead of providing it at anganwadis. Such a step would ensure that the children get their meals regularly, she added.

Dhanekar said there were 21 centres in 14 talukas in the district which had garnered details of children below five years. She said the malnourished children were classified in three groups based on levels on malnutrition: age, height and weight. Thereafter, they were put into three categories of mild, moderate and severely
malnourished.

She added there were over 5,000 children in this age group which can be termed as severely malnourished. Dhanekar said 2.67 lakh children were found to be malnourished.