Parliament Question: Nutrition Mapping

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 3640 TO BE ANSWERED ONTHE 13TH MARCH, 2026 NUTRITIONMAPPING 3640. MDABUTAHERKHAN: Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a) whether any National Nutrition Emergency Mapping has been conducted to assess districts where child wasting and stunting have crossed WHO "critical levels" and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government has taken any cognizance of the rise in malnutrition-linked child deaths reported from tea gardens and tribal villages during the last one year till date, if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government is likely to deploy mobile medical-nutrition units in high-risk blocks where children are unable to access public health facilities and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether the Government proposes to restore doorstep health check-up and growth- monitoring suspended after Covid-19; and (e) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL) (a) As per the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), prevalence of stunting and wasting among children under 5 years across the country and state/UT is placed at Annexure. District-wise details of children under 5 years who are stunted and wasted can be accessed from link placed below: https://www.nfhsiips.in/nfhsuser/publication.php (b) to (e) Malnutrition is not a direct cause of death in children; however, it reduces resistance tovariousinfections. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare implements Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy under National Health Mission (NHM) and provides support through the National Health Mission based on the proposals received from the States/UTs in their Annual Programme Implementation Plans. The various interventions to improve access to child health and nutrition services including addressing stunting and wasting across the country, including tea gardens and tribal villages are as placed below:1. Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) are set up at public health facilities to provide in-patient medical and nutritional care to children under 5 years of age suffering from Moderate and Severe Acute Malnutrition (MAM and SAM) with medical complications. In addition to curative care, special focus is given on improving the skills for mother and caregivers on complete age-appropriate caring andfeedingpractices. In order to strengthen the effective utilization and improve access to NRCs, allowance for transportation of childrenunder5yearssuffering from acute malnutrition toNRC and admission and follow ups is covered within the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK).Government of India providessupportthrough wage loss compensationprovided to mother/caregiver of children under 5 years suffering from severe acute malnutrition with medicalcomplications admittedinNRC. 2. Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) are operationalized for delivery of preventive, promotive and curative healthcare services to remote, difficult and inaccessible areas including tribal areas, and to the marginalised communities amid rural and urban populations. The services provided pertaining to nutrition include provision of essential medicines andnutritionalsupplements, growth monitoring of childrenunder 5 years, screening and early detection of anemia followed by management of anemia as per protocols, testing of iodine in food and provision of nutrition counselling to beneficiaries. 3. Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) programme is implemented to reduce anemia among six beneficiariesage group - children (6-59 months), children(5-9 years), adolescents(10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and in women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanism. 4. Mothers’ Absolute Affection (MAA) Program is implemented to improve breastfeeding coverage emphasizing on early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding for first six months followed by age-appropriate complementary feeding practices through capacity building of frontline health workers andcomprehensive IEC campaigns. 5. Lactation Management Centres are established to ensure availability of Mother’s Own Milk or safe, pasteurized Donor Human Milk for feeding of sick, preterm, low birth weight babies admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Special Newborn Care Units. 6. Under National Deworming Day (NDD), albendazole tablets are administered in a single fixed day approach via schools and anganwadi centres to reduce worm infestation amongallchildren (1-19 years). 7. In Vitamin A Supplementation Programme, all children age 6–59 months are administered Vitamin A dose every 6 months in two rounds during Village Health SanitationandNutrition Daysor in campaignapproach. 8. Community Based care of Newborn and Young Children: Under Home Based New-bornCare (HBNC) andHome-Based Careof YoungChildren(HBYC)program, structured home visits are performed by ASHAs to improve child rearing practices and promotion of nutritional and development activities among children which includes promotion of early and exclusive breastfeeding, adequate complementary feeding along with continued breast feeding till 2 years, identification of growthfaltering, developmental delay, sickness in children and prompt referral to health facility for treatment and management. Post Covid -19, the home visits to newborn andchildrencontinuedinthe year2021byASHAs intheircatchmentareas. 9. Under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), children are screened by Mobile Health Teams at Anganwadi Centres and Government/ Government-aided Schools, and those identified for 4D’s (Defect at birth, Diseases, Deficiencies and Developmental Delays) are referred to public health facilities for confirmation and management including surgical treatment. Post Covid -19, screening of the children aged 0-18 years resumed in the year 2021 at the Government/ Government-aided schools andAnganwadi centres. 10.Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) are observed for provision of maternal and child health services and creating awareness on maternal and child-care including nutrition in convergence with Ministry of Women and Child Development. *****Annexurereferredtointhereplytopart(a)ofLokSabhaUnstarredQuestionNo.3640foranswer on13.03.2026 Annexure State/UT-wisestatusof Children under5yearswhoareMalnourished Children under5years Children under5 yearswho S.n whoarestunted (height- are wasted (weight-for- State/UT o. for-age) height) NFHS 5 NFHS 5 India 35.5 19.3 Andaman& 1 22.5 16 Nicobar 2 Andhra Pradesh 31.2 16.1 3 Arunachal Pradesh 28.0 13.1 4 Assam 35.3 21.7 5 Bihar 42.9 22.9 6 Chandigarh 25.3 8.4 7 Chhattisgarh 34.6 18.9 8 Dadra Nagar Haveli 39.4 21.6 9 Delhi 30.9 11.2 10 Goa 25.8 19.1 11 Gujarat 39.0 25.1 12 Haryana 27.5 11.5 13 HimachalPradesh 30.8 17.4 14 Jammu andKashmir 26.9 19.0 15 Jharkhand 39.6 22.4 16 Karnataka 35.4 19.5 17 Kerala 23.4 15.8 18 Ladakh 30.5 17.5 19 Lakshadweep 32.0 17.4 20 Madhya Pradesh 35.7 19.0 21 Maharashtra 35.2 25.6 22 Manipur 23.4 9.9 23 Meghalaya 46.5 12.1 24 Mizoram 28.9 9.8 25 Nagaland 32.7 19.1 26 Odisha 31.0 18.1 27 Puducherry 20.0 12.4 28 Punjab 24.5 10.6 29 Rajasthan 31.8 16.8 30 Sikkim 22.3 13.7 31 Tamil Nadu 25.0 14.6 32 Telangana 33.1 21.7 33 Tripura 23.3 18.2 34 Uttar Pradesh 39.7 17.3 35 Uttarakhand 27.0 13.2 36 West Bengal 33.8 20.3