Being an Indian and below 5 years of age is a rather dangerous prospect right now. The odds seem to be piling up against Indian toddlers — a recent Unicef report has claimed that 16.55 lakh below-5 kids die each year in the nation, leading the world in child mortality.
According to the ‘Child Mortality Estimates Report 2012’, India’s under-five death toll is higher than the deaths in Nigeria, Congo and Pakistan put together. The killer diseases may be many — pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria figure as the top causes of death; but it all boils down to the nutrition of the mothers during pregnancy, and that given to the baby, say experts here.
