The situation is quite alarming. In Raigad district, 9,000 children were found to be malnourished and of this 918 were reported to be severely affected. This shocking fact came to light in a joint survey conducted by the state's health department and the women and children welfare department.
Taking serious cognisance of the issue, the govt has decided to focus on these areas and provide nutrition to children below six years.
The presence of malnourished children in different regions in the state is a long known issue. Melghat in Amravati district has been in the news off and on for its high number of malnourished children.
The survey conducted recently by the officials of the two departments identified 8,989 malnourished children. After that, official held a meeting and decided on an action plan to tackle this problem.
"Our dept is working closely on this subject. We have already started implementing the action. Our dept commissioner and other officials recently held a meeting on this subject. We have identified areas with malnourished children and are now focusing on them with the help of the health department," said Varsha Gaikwad, minister for women and child welfare.
Malnutrition is a condition that results from eating a diet in which there not enough nutrients or there are too much, such that it causes health problems. Nutrients involved can include: protein, carbohydrates, vitamins or minerals.
Dr Samir Dalwai, senior paediatrician and member, Young Parliamentarians' Citizens Alliance Against Malnutrition, said: "First of all we have to understand that sever malnourishment is a disease and we have to tackle it in a proper way. We can't just treat it by providing nutrients, we have to first treat the damage caused by it to organs including liver, kidney and intestine, and then start the nutrients therapy. We also have to create awareness about this among the doctors and NGO who working in this field.
