D'gere too joins the club

A whopping 2,422 children below 5 years of age are suffering from severe malnourishment in the district, according to the figures available by the end of December last year.

The number of children suffering from moderate malnourishment stands at 83. The weight of these children do not conform to the prescribed standards, causing concern.
While the severe malnourishment figure for Chennagiri taluk is 529, Harapanahalli-458, Harihar-430, Honnali-338, Davangere-335 and Jagalur is 282.

The Department of Women and Child Development has launched awareness programmes for parents and nutritious food is being provided through the anganwadi centres, Vasudeva, the Deputy Director of the department, told Deccan Herald.

Frequent health check-ups are conducted on malnourished children and treatment is given to them for the various diseases they are prone to at the Bapuji Hospital in the city, he said.

Children’s scheme
As many as 140 children underwent treatment there recently and there was improvement in their health status. A sum of Rs 25 lakh was spent last year under the ‘Balasanjivini’ scheme for the treatment of malnourished children.

The allotment for the current year stands at Rs 60 lakh. sum of Rs 50,000 each is being provided for the treatment of malnourished children below the age of one year registered in anganwadi centres, while the sum for children aged above 1 is Rs 35,000.

Weight issues
A healthy newborn should weigh 2.75 kg to three kg whereas they are found to weigh between 1.45 kg and 2.5 kg. Food habits and environment too contribute for malnourishment.

Children are being given nutritious food at anganwadi centres. They are also being administered anti-worm tablets once every six months, Vasudeva said. He said a majority of children born to girls married in childhood and underweight women are found to be malnourished.