45 lakh children in Madhya Pradesh suffer from stunted growth

Forty-five lakh children, mostly tribals, suffer from stunted growth in Madhya Pradesh, a study has found.

An analysis by the 'Down To Earth' (Hindi) magazine of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has showed that stunting, which reflects chronic under-nutrition, is also very high among tribal children in the state.

An alarming 50 per cent of the children in Alirajpur, Dhar, Dindori and Jhabua -- the four districts where tribals constitute 50 per cent of the population -- are stunted, it said.

According to international non-profit 'Save The Children', Madhya Pradesh tops the nation in the number of malnourished children under the age of six. In 2015, 60 per cent of its children were malnourished, while 74 per cent were anaemic.
 

Experts are now alarmed by the high incidence of stunting in the state and believe that this is the result of several years of "nutritional insults" -- poor diet, chronic hunger and infection, according to a statement from CSE today.

"Analysts with Down To Earth point out that this could be indicative of a bigger problem. They have found that stunting is high in all tribal-dominated areas across the country.

"Decades of hunger and stunting seem to have altered the stature of tribal people, forever," the statement said.

The researchers behind this analysis say that forests were traditionally the main source of nutritious sustenance.

"Today's PDS and cheap food rations do provide food security, but nutritional security is still a distant dream for them and with forests made out of bounds for tribals, their primary source of nutrition has dried up.

"Scourge of stunting has hit tribal children in Madhya Pradesh. 45 lakh children - mostly tribals -- suffer from stunted growth in the state," the statement said.

A 2013 report by the central government had said that 72 per cent of tribal women never get to eat even one fruit in a week.

"Official policies, which have barred our tribal populations from the forests -- their traditional source of food and nutrition -- seem to be responsible for this severe malnutrition and stunting that afflicts these populations," said Richard Mahapatra, managing editor of 'Down To Earth'.