Chennai: Stunted growth rate of children, which is an indication of poor nutrition, has been a major challenge in the country with around five crore children suffering from it.
While poor nutrition is a major factor behind this, poor nutritional health of women is also related to it, as per a recent study by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) after the analysis of National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-2016).
Tamil Nadu has a stunted growth rate of 20 -30 per cent and some districts even had high prevalence of around 40 per cent as per the National Family Health Survey 4, making it a challenging public health concern.
Stunting is usually measured for children below the age of five, and poor health of mother impacts the health of child.
The study analysed the overall burden of stunting across various districts and discussed various factors such as women’s body mass index, education, age at marriage and antenatal care that lead to poor nutrition in women.
However, women’s body mass index, education, age at marriage and lack of antenatal care contributes to around 46 per cent of the factors that lead to stunted growth of children. The study said that these factors led to a major difference in stunting rate across different districts.
“While low BMI in new mothers impacts breastfeeding, education helps women to be health-conscious and give impetus to nutrition. Early marriage and lack of antenatal care leads to pre-term babies and low-weight babies. Therefore, such factors are indirectly linked with stunted growth of children,” says senior obstetrician at Firm Hospitals, Dr Mala Raj.
