Over 14 lakh children in India "severely malnourished", says Centre

New Delhi: The Women and Child Development Ministry on Wednesday said that over 14 lakh children in India are severely malnourished.

They have very low weight for their height. These children are also nine times more likely to die if fallen ill because they have weak immune systems. Union minister Smriti Irani was answering a question in Rajya Sabha.

She said, "Under Poshan Tracker, the ICT application for monitoring service delivery under Mission Poshan 2.0, out of approximately 5.6 crore children measured in the month of February 2023, the percentage of severely malnourished children is 2.6%. The number comes to 14,56,000. The percentage of malnourished children was found to be 7.7% which comes to around 43 lakhs."

Last year, a report by UNICEF said that malnourishment is an "overlooked survival emergency" and South Asia remains the hub of severe wasting. Statistics show that the situation in South Asia is worse than in sub-Saharan Africa.

"Children who are severely wasted succumb to those diseases because their bodies provide virtually no protection against the bacteria, virus or fungi that infect them. They die because their digestive systems can no longer absorb nutrients. A severely wasted child is reduced to the most basic bodily functions. It takes all their energy just to keep breathing," said the global body's report.