New Delhi: India has fallen short of the target of reducing malnutrition among infants as the country was unable to bring the rate of decline of underweight children below the age of three to 26 per cent in 2015, the Rajya Sabha was told on Thursday.
"As per the Millennium Development Goals India Country Report 2015, the proportion of underweight children below three years was estimated at 52 per cent in 1990. In order to meet the MDG target, the proportion of under-weight child should have come down to 26 per cent by 2015," Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said in a written reply.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) shows that the proportion of underweight children below three years declined from 43 per cent in 1998-99 to 40 per cent in 2005-06. At this rate of decline, the proportion of underweight children below three years was expected to reduced by 33 per cent by 2015, which indicates India is falling short of the target, she said.
"As per Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC) 2013-14 commissioned by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, there is a reduction in malnutrition among the children under 5 years of age from 42.5 per cent in NFHS-3 to 29.4 per cent," the Minster said.
