By Alka Arya
Even as Jharkhand has
the richest mineral wealth and coal deposits worth Rs 200 lakh crore in the
country, 42 per cent of state’s population lives below the poverty line and 55
per cent under-5 children are malnourished. An estimated 2.2 million children
in Jharkhand are malnourished. Among them, 12% are severely malnourished. Approximately
47% of state’s children below the age of three are physically stunted. According
to a 2013 Lancet Medical Journal report, malnutrition accounts for 45 per cent of
the total deaths of children under the age of five. By curbing malnutrition,
deaths of up to 18,000 under-5 children can be staved off in Jharkhand every
year.
The problem of
malnutrition among children is so acute in the country that according to a
World health Organization estimate, out of 19 million malnourished children in
the world 8 million are in India only. The number of undernourished children in
India is two times higher than those living in sub-Saharan Africa.
The burden of
malnourished children adversely impacts the socio-economic progress of a
country. Malnourishment among children is a problem confined not just to their
families- it also affects the entire state and the nation in many ways. For
instance, malnutrition causes stunting in children, which in turn can result in
22 per cent loss in income. Read more
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