As many as 3.25 crore children across the country suffer from stunting. Data from anganwadi centres show that this accounts for over 39 per cent of all children under the age of six across 13.9 lakh such centres.
In addition to that, 6 per cent of children under the age of five – which accounts for 43 lakh children – also suffer from severe or moderate malnourishment. This is similar to the number of obese children across these centres, 6 per cent or 43 lakh. As many as 1.5 crore children under the age of six in these centres are underweight.
The data from these rural childcare centres is from the month of August, collected from 13.96 lakh anganwadis, where the health and nutrition parameters of 8.33 crore children under the age of six are measured. The women and child development ministry, through the ICT application Poshan Tracker measures the height and weight of the children. Hot-cooked means and supplementary nutrition is also provided to these children.
