Belagavi: The central and state government has brought in various programmes to fight malnutrition among the children. But still, the number of malnourished children is staggering in Karnataka. On an average, one of out three children below the age of 5 in the state suffers from malnutrition . The situation is worse in Belagavi as the rate of malnutrition is as high as 38.05 %. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) shows that malnutrition is more in north Karnataka compared to south Karnataka.
And the number of children who are malnourished has only risen during this COVID19 pandemic. The government is trying to battle these health issues by distributing nutritious food supplements for children below five years at the Anganwadi centres located in every area; but still the numbers are nowhere close to going down.
The malnutrition numbers are 26 to 31 % in South Karnataka while they are 38 to 56 % in the North Karnataka. This increasing trend has become a worrying matter for the administration. The NFHS say that the lack of good quality and nutritious food, less consumption of the fruits, green vegetables, protein-based food and lack of awareness among the children is the reason for the malnutrition.
What’s more worrying is that 65% of children who have been treated in the nutrition rehabilitation centre of the government are still malnourished. The report also says that malnutrition is more prevalent among the girls compared to the boys. The health department has new challenges to tackle simultaneously when fighting with the COVID19 pandemic.