Covid-19 3rd wave threat to kids: 'Malnutrition a huge comorbidity'

More than 92 lakh children in India are lsquoseverely acute malnourishedrsquo with the most in Uttar Pradesh followed by Bihar according to government data underscoring concerns that the Covid19 pandemic could exacerbate the health and nutrition crisis among the poorest of the poorAn estimated 927606 lsquoseverely acute malnourishedrsquo children aged six months to six years were identified across the country till November last year the Women and Child Development Ministry said in response to an RTI query from PTIOf these UP had 398359 and Bihar 279427 They are also home to the highest number of children in the country Ladakh Lakshadweep Nagaland Manipur and Madhya Pradesh reported no severely malnourished children Except for Ladakh none of the anganwadi centres in the other four reported any data on the matter according to the RTI replyThe worry is that the numbers could not just be an underestimation but also rise in view of the ongoing pandemic with fears that the third wave could impact children more than others ldquoThere is rise in unemployment there is rise in an economic crisis which is bound to have repercussions on hunger and when there is hunger there will be malnutrition The government has a clear cut protocol and they need to ramp that uprdquo Enakshi Ganguly cofounder of the HAQ Center for Child Rights told PTIGanguly said ldquoMalnutrition will be a huge comorbidity if what they are saying that children will be affected more in the next wave holds true then malnutrition will be a huge comorbidity and how are they going to address thatrdquoThe WHO defines lsquosevere acute malnutritionrsquo SAM by very low weightforheight or by the presence of nutritional oedema Maharashtra reported 70665 SAM children followed by Gujarat at 45749 Chhattisgarh at 37249 Odisha at 15595 Tamil Nadu at 12489 Jharkhand at 12059 Andhra Pradesh at 11201 Telangana at 9045 Assam at 7218 Karnataka at 6899 Kerala at 6188 and Rajasthan at 5732India slips 2 spots on Sustainable Dvpt GoalsIndiarsquos rank has slipped by two places from last year to 117 on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs adopted as a part of the 2030 agenda by 193 United Nations member states in 2015 a new report has said The 2021 report revealed that Indiarsquos rank was 115 last year and dropped by two places primarily because major challenges like ending hunger and achieving food security achieving gender equality and building resilient infrastructure promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation remain in the country It ranks below Bhutan Nepal Sri Lanka and Bangladesh The overall SDG score of India is 619 out of 100 Jharkhand and Bihar are the least prepared to meet the SDGs by 2030Also Read Mumbai Bollywood biggies open their purses for pandemic reliefThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever