NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Meghalaya continues to record a high percentage of stunting among children from birth to four years of age, having surpassed Bihar, which earlier was in first position.
The state currently has the highest percentage of stunting among children at 46.5 followed by Bihar at 42.9 per cent.
Stunting or low height-for-age is a sign of chronic under-nutrition that reflects failure to receive adequate nutrition over a long period of time and is also affected by recurrent and chronic illness.
Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards median.
The latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data released for 22 states and Union Territories indicated a worrying trend for malnutrition, which is the primary cause of stunting.
The 2019-20 Sustainable Development Goals Index has also indicated poor performance on the goal of “Zero Hunger”.
The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) 2016-2018 had found high stunting in Meghalaya among children, while Bihar had then recorded the highest percentage of stunting among children.
The CNNS 2016-2018 findings stated that in Meghalaya, 40.4 per cent of children from birth to four years suffer from stunting while the national average is around 35 per cent.
“In fact, Meghalaya is just below Bihar (42 per cent) when it comes to the percentage of prevalence of stunting among children in the age group,” the survey had stated.
Union Minister, Smriti Zubin Irani had expressed concern over such a trend in the hill state.
Of the 22 states/Union Territories, 13 showed a rise in stunting, including some of the populous states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala to name a few.
Incidentally, Sikkim, another Northeastern state, recorded the lowest figure of 22.3 per cent, a significant decline (7.3 percentage point drop) since 2015-16.
Bihar has shown improvement from 48.3 per cent in 2015-16 to 42.9 percent in 2019-20.
“However, Bihar still shows high levels of stunting though it has declined 5.3 percentage points since 2015-16,” the NFHS-5 data said.
The NFHS-5 data also showed marked improvement in some of the health indicators.
However a worsening trend has been observed for nutritional status of under five-year-old children in many states and Union Territories.
Wasting (defined as low weight-for-height) has either risen or remained stagnant in most of the states/Union Territories.
Worse still, a recent report indicated a rise in pandemic-related malnutrition, adding to the number of children suffering from wasting.
