Education, awareness only answer to malnutrition

Bengaluru: One of the major reasons for the death of children below five years of age continues to be malnutrition, but yet there seems to be no well thought out solutions to tackle the problem in the state. Though the situation is better as compared to other states, the problem has not been tackled appropriately.

“Malnutrition is a big problem even now and many newborns do not even have the ideal weight. It is definitely a cause for worry,” said Dr Asha Benkappa of Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH).

According to a study conducted by CRY – Child Rights and You – for children below six years of age, over 30 per cent of children born in slums of Bengaluru are underweight.

“Undernutrition is an important factor contributing to the death of young children. If a child is malnourished, the mortality risk associated with respiratory infections, diarrhoea, malaria, measles and other infectious diseases is high,” said Dr Benkappa. Though anganwadis remain the most important institutions for ensuring nutrition, health and early education for children below six years, only 47% of children from the slums are enrolled into these early schools.

“We are working closely with 1,500 anganwadis covering about seven lakh children. We are also training mothers to take care of their children and newborns. Education and awareness among expectant mothers is the key to tackling the problem. Any loss of life due to malnutrition is a grave concern,” said Manish Michael, executive director of NGO United Way of Bengaluru, which has been focusing on malnutrition in the state for the past few years. He revealed that more than 75,000 children in the state are malnourished. “The numbers can be more,” he added.

On the reasons behind malnutrition, he said, “Poverty is not the only cause. Poor people may lack adequate food, but there is also a tendency in these families to offer lesser time and resources for their children. Not surprisingly, the proportion of malnourished children among the lowest wealth quintile is significantly higher than the proportion of malnourished children among the highest wealth quintile. But the difference between the two extreme wealth quintiles seems to have narrowed over the past decade, the latest data suggest.”