As per the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5); 36% of children under age five years are stunted, 19% are wasted, 32% are underweight and 3% are overweight. Malnutrition can manifest itself in four major forms; stunting, wasting, underweight and micronutrient deficiencies. Wasting is essentially low weight for height and is characterised by severe weight loss. Stunting is low height for weight. Underweight refers to a child with low weight for age and can be characterised by stunting, wasting or both. The lack of awareness, access to primary healthcare, a weak public distribution system and poor implementation of the integrated child development scheme are some of the reasons for the prevalence of malnutrition. Several schemes such as the mid-day meal have been put in place to help combat the problem. This article goes onto discuss the causes of malnutrition and the steps that can be taken to rectify the problem.
SOURCE: DRISHTI IAS
