Mumbai: In Maharashtra, where data shows that every fourth child is malnourished, new research has found that the diet of over 80% of children between six and 23 months is poor and lacks “diversity” as defined by World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to WHO, children in the six- to 23-month bracket should have minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and consume five out of the eight recommended food groups (see graphic). Children who have less than five of these food groups are considered as minimum dietary diversity failures (MDDF).
Over three-quarters of India’s children could be classified as MDDF, according to the study published in The National Medical Journal of India, a publication of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. “However, there was a slight improvement in MDDF from the National Family Health Survey-3 when 87% of this age group were MDDF to 77% as per the NFHS-5 conducted in 2019-2021,” said author Gaurav Gunnal from the International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar.
Maharashtra, along with seven other states including UP, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, had high MDDF of over 80%. Only 95 districts in the south, east, and the northeast out of India’s 707 districts had a low prevalence of dietary failure at 60% and lower.
“Dietary failure was higher among children who were females, from lower socio-economic groups, did not receive food from anganwadi centres, and were born to younger mothers,” said Gunnal and co-author Dhruvi Bagaria from Indian Institute of Public Health in Gandhinagar. Dietary diversity helps combat deficiency of micronutrients that play an important role in development and growth. Poor nutrition increases risks of delayed motor and cognitive development, weak learning, low immunity, poor metabolism, memory, and increased susceptibility to infections.
According to NFHS-5, 1 in every 3 children is underweight and stunted, while 1 in every 5 children is wasted in India. Dr Abhay Shukla of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan said Maharashtra ranks lowest among states as far as “wasting” (over 25%) and “severe wasting” (over 10%) is concerned. “These kids are at a high risk of dying due to infections,” he said.
