Six UP districts figure in top 10 list of child stunting in India

India’s north and central parts have districts with high stunting among children as compared with rest of the country with as many as six districts from Uttar Pradesh figuring in the top 10 list of districts with highest stunting rates.

According to a recent study by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based on an analysis of National Family Health Survey –IV, 239 out of the 640 districts in India have more than 40 per cent stunting and 202 have a prevalence of 30-40 per cent stunting.

Low body mass index in women was identified as the biggest cause of stunting among children (19 per cent), followed by women’s education (12 per cent)and children’ss diet (9 per cent), showed the study released on Thursday.

“These multi-factorial determinants highlight the need for district-specific data for diagnostic assessments and call for a nationwide focus for stunting prevention,” the study said.

This analysis comes at a time when Centre’s POSHAN Abhiyan (National Nutrition Mission) has stated a clear district-level focus for action and has recently added 235 additional districts for inclusion in the second phase.

Among the top 10 districts with lowest stunting rates are in Kerala's Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Allapuzha and Idukki, the study showed.

Map of stunting prevalence in Indian districts with rankings, 2015-2016