1 in every 2 kids in Bengal is anaemic, says National Family Health Survey report

Kolkata, Jan 28: More than half the children aged below five are anaemic in West Bengal, the latest National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS 4) data published by the Union Health Ministry have shown. A release by Kolkata-based Child Rights & You (CRY) said this last week.
A marginal improvement: It said the nutritional status of children in West Bengal is found to have improved only marginally, compared to that of the previous NFHS data published almost a decade ago. Besides child malnutrition, the quality of ante-natal and delivery care for expecting mothers also show worrying trends leaving a negative impact on the child's health in the state, as the recent survey findings suggest. The overall findings of the first phase of the NFHS 4, however, show marginal improvements in the maternal and child health and nutrition across 13 states and two UTs.West Bengal though has done fairly well in several child health and nutrition indicators like immunisation and treatment of critical childhood diseases, the progression rate of critical indicators like child nutrition, which has a direct link with the children's overall growth and development, remains far. Atindra Nath Das, Regional Director (East) of said: "The NFHS is not just a reflection of the state of health and nutritional well-being of children but it also provides the direction for corrective measures in state policies and programmes. For West Bengal, the data so released reinforces the need for the state to address nutritional security of children and expecting mothers as an emergency."





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