IMPIMP

15% children malnourished in Nandurbar, lockdown hit the state malnourishment programmes

by pranjalipargaonkar

Nandurbar: The three tribal districts of Maharashtra- Nandurbar, Melghat and Palghar have reported maximum cases of malnutrition. A drive conducted by the Women and Child Development department depict 15 per cent of the 1.49 lakh children are malnourished in Nandurbar in July, 7.9 per in Melghat and 2.3 per cent in Palghar.

The drive was conducted to record malnutrition numbers, it screened children
aged up to six years. It was first drive since the coronavirus outbreak. The officials have claimed that the higher numbers could be linked to the lockdown since March, which affected nutrition programmes across the state.

According to Women and Child Development department, of the 1.49 lakh in Nandurbar 3,710 were found with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and 18,644 with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM).

As per Nandurbar district health officer, Dr Nitin Borke, the malnourishment increased as the return of local migratory population from Gujarat and other parts of Maharashtra.

In Palghar, 2,857 children have been detected undernourished during the July screening.

As per Pravin Bhavsar, deputy Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) officer, it noticed a 1-2 per cent rise in malnourishment here and have started providing energy-dense nutritious food packets to severely malnourished children.”

In June, the state government stared home-based Village Child Development Centre programme for SAM children. Under the programme, earlier SAM children were offered six meals a day in an anganwadi. Since June, anganwadi workers were supposed to take the six meals to each severely malnourished child’s house.

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