Gujarat is battling malnutrition, with around 10.1% children in the state being grossly underweight and 41.6% of children showing stunted growth.
These are the findings of the Rapid Survey on Children, a nationwide sample survey of over one lakh households, conducted by Unicef, the report of which was accepted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
The report suggests over 41.6% children in Gujarat are stunted and 18.3% are severely stunted, for their age. The report ‘Rapid Survey on Children’ surveyed 1.05 lakh families in the country and met 2.10 people, including 90,000 children in the age group of 0 to 4 years.
The revelation underscores how malnutrition continues to torment Gujarat, an economically progressive state whose development model is to be replicated across India by the Union government.
Senior officials of the women and child development department, say that the government – including chief minister Anandiben Patel – refused to buy into the report, saying there has been a sharp decline in the number of malnourished children in the state.