'30 pc of children in City slums are underweight'

A study conducted by Child Rights and You (CRY) has found that over 30 per cent of the children in the slums of Bengaluru are underweight.

The focus of the study was on children aged between one and six. The household survey was conducted among the primary caregivers of 1,260 children in the slums of five metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru.

The study also found that over 52 per cent of the children were found to be stunted, indicating malnutrition. However, immunisation coverage in the slums in Bengaluru was found to have improved with 75 per cent of the children having received at least some form of recommended dosage of immunisation.

Nutrition was found to be one of the major health issues these metros were battling. While 50 per cent of children in the slums of Delhi were underweight, it was 62.2 per cent in Chennai. Kolkata and Mumbai slums were found to have 49 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively, of underweight children, according to the study.

More than one-thirds of the children in Bengaluru were not de-wormed and most of them were not even beneficiaries of the Integrated Child Development Services which provides iron tablets and vitamin A dosages.

Suma Ravi, regional director (South), CRY, said, “If we as a nation do not prioritise investment in the rights of children below six years of age, the consequences would be manifested not just in his/her childhood but will also pose an impediment in adult life. An India without a healthy start for its children will never be able to realise its full human potential.”