NEW DELHI: Govt’s ‘Poshan Tracker’ data shows that as of Feb, 8.8 crore children (0-6 years) were enrolled in Anganwadis with 8.5 crore measured on growth parameters of height and weight. Of these children, 37.7% were found to be stunted and 17.1% children were underweight.
The ministry of women and child development shared this data as part of the response to a written question in Rajya Sabha on addressing the challenge of malnutrition. Citing the data from the Tracker and drawing from National Family Health Surveys 1 (1992-93) to 5 (2019-21), the WCD ministry said that the numbers show “improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India”.
The minister of state for women and child development Savitri Thakur in a written reply also shared that the projected population of all children up to 5 years in India for the year 2021 is 13.7 crore approximately and 16.1 crore for children in the 0-6 years age group.
Of the 7.4 crore children upto 5 years enrolled in Anganwadis and registered on Poshan Tracker as of February, around 7.2 crore were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. The results show that 39% of them have been found to be stunted, 16.6% have been found to be underweight and 5.3% wasted,” the minister said in her response. As per National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) stunting among under 5 children was 35.5%, underweight children accounted for 32.1% and 19.3% were affected by wasting.
The ministry highlights that “as compared to NFHS (sample size of approx 6.1 lakh households and survey done after every 5 or 6 years only), Poshan Tracker consistently measures approx 8.5 crore children approximately each month revealing the real time nutritional status of beneficiaries,” the WCD ministry highlighed.
