There is a perception that despite considerable economic growth, India has not made commensurate progress in addressing anthropometric (weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height or body mass index-for-age) undernutrition. The current national prevalence of undernutrition in children below five years is still high; 39% are stunted, 29% are underweight and 15% are wasted. However, this common belief appears somewhat flawed; there has been substantial improvement in stunting and underweight over the years. A comparison of the two latest national surveys, National Family Health Survey-3 (2005-06) and Rapid Survey on Children (2013-14), reveals a decline in stunting (48% to 39%) and underweight (43% to 29%), but only a marginal reduction in wasting (20% to 15%). Similarly, available data from 14 states in the recent National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) confirms a decline in stunting and underweight. However, wasting decreased in only six states (by 2% to 15%) and paradoxically increased in eight states (by 1% to 9%).
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Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/intergenerational-change-anthropometric-indices-and-their-predictors-among-children
[2] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/sikha-sinha
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/abha-rani-aggarwal
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/clive-osmond-et-al
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/indian-pediatrics
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/child-health
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/new-delhi
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/nutritional-diseases
[9] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/statistics
[10] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/epidemics
[11] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/non-communicable-diseases
[12] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/obesity
[13] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/heart-diseases
[14] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/consumption-patterns
