The results of the recent Family Health Survey (NFHS 4) reveal that more than 58 percent of children under five are anemic, ie they suffer from hemoglobin deficiency Blood , Leaving them exhausted, vulnerable to infections, and possibly affecting their development.
According to the World Health Organization, high levels of these markers are clear indications of poor socio-economic conditions and suboptimal health and / or nutritional conditions. In short, lack of food, unhealthy living conditions and poor health care delivery systems.
According to 2011 census data, the total number of children under five in India in 2015 is estimated at 12.4 crore. Thus, about 7.2 crore children are anemic, nearly 5 crore are stunted, about 2.6 crore are wasted and 4.4 crore are underweight. These figures are not too different from those for 2005-2006. Since the population has grown, their share is down.
The survey, which was conducted in 2015-16 and covered six lakh households, also showed that about 38% of children in the same age group were stunted, 21% were wasted and 36% were underweight. Although all internationally accepted markers of child health have improved since the last survey in 2005-2006, levels of undernutrition, mainly caused by poverty, are still high and improvement is too slow.
The survey also found that just over half of all pregnant women were anemic. This automatically translates into their newborn being low. Overall, 53% of women and 23% of men aged 15-49 were anemic.
There are wide variations between states. UP data has not been published due to ongoing surveys, according to Balram Paswan, a professor at the International Institute of Population Sciences in Mumbai, which was the nodal agency for the ministry's survey Of Health. But poorer states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have rates above the national average rates on all markers. In Tamil Nadu, 51% of children are anemic while in Kerala, it is more than a third. In many states, stunting has decreased, but the proportion of severely wasted children has increased.
The more advanced states such as those in the south, Haryana and Gujarat have slightly better numbers, but are still at unacceptably high levels. These are clear signs of an endemic hunger crisis in the country that policy makers do not seem to address.
