Behind India's stunted children: Anaemic, underweight mothers

Supriya Gaikwad, 25, holds her daughter who will turn two this May, as she narrates the abuse she faced in her marital home in nearby Tasgaon village. Now back at her father's home in Khanderajuri in Miraj, she says, "I was made to do all the domestic work of my 15-member household. After I had my child, even if she was crying, I wasn't allowed to leave my work and pacify her." Supriya and her daughter were routinely denied food and neglected.

Supriya's father, a farmer, says, "The child was too weak to even stand till four months ago when they returned home. It is only now that the child has put on weight and is able to stand."

The results of latest National Family and Health Surve-4 (NFHS-4) throws up alarming facts about the health of women in India. Half of the women in the age group of 14 to 59 are anaemic. Not surprisingly these women — underfed and overworked — give birth to stunted and malnourished children.

Nearly one in every three Indian children under the age of five is stunted and underweight for their age.

"Nutrition is important at each and every life cycle of a woman. Once you deny nutrition to a girl child at birth she will be stunted and anaemic. If she marries early, as I see in many rural areas, her child is likely to be stunted as well. So we are missing the boat at every stage," said Dr Rupal Dalal of the Foundation of Mother and Child Health (FMCH) who also conducts training programmes for several anganwadi workers in Palghar and medical camps in areas like Dharampur, Gujarat. "The situation is worse in tribal areas where the mothers are as young as 15 who then give birth to an entire generation of stunted children," she added.

"I am not sure whether there is adequate priority and district level infrastructure for women's development because the whole ministry is focused primarily on the Integrated Child and Development Services (ICDS)," said Dr Dileep Mavalankar, director, Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar.

"One thought could be to separate the ministries as child development is very different from women's development," he added while suggesting that the approach has to be more outcome oriented.

While there are still policies that look at pregnant women, those in teenage years or unmarried remain neglected.

Over 6 lakh households were interviewed to collect the various health indicators for the NFHS survey that was conducted by Mumbai-based International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS).