Ahmedabad: A recent study covering children between one and five years of age in two major hospitals with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has indicated the presence of undernutrition and severe undernutrition. The study covered 689 children and assessed their weight, height and mid-arm circumference based on WHO standards.It is notable that Sept is observed as Rashtriya Poshan Mah or National Nutrition Month to create awareness about right food habits.The study identified undernutrition in about 23% of the children screened. It also showed more girls compared to boys in the malnutrition group. A high number of children, overall, were from low-income families and had a low birth weight.Public health experts in the city said that the NFHS-6 findings also point to Gujarat having issues of stunting, wasting and malnutrition at large. “The issue we are witnessing increasingly is not just access to food, but access to nutritious food – nutrition, especially in early years, depends a lot on the mother’s health, birth weight, and right feeding practices including providing mother’s milk. Nutrition becomes a major factor in ensuring better immunity in later years along with satisfactory physical and mental development,” said a public health expert.
