Shillong:
Meghalaya has reported a ‘huge’ decrease in the rates of stunted and underweight children in 2023 from 46.5 per cent to 29.53 and from 26.6 to 7.98 per cent, respectively.
This was informed by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma while replying to a supplementary question raised by Nongpoh MLA Mayralborn Syiem during the question hour on the last day of the budget session on March 28.
“This is happening because of the focus approach of the government through the Anganwadi centres and I am sure these numbers will reflect in the NFHS (National Family Health Survey-6) that will come out very soon,” Sangma said.
As per the NFHS-5 conducted in 2019-20, Meghalaya is one of states with the highest number of stunted children. The stunting rate in Meghalaya was higher than the national average of 35.5 per cent, and it stood at 46.5 per cent.
Stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation.
On the other hand, the wasting percentage (weight for height) and underweight percentage (weight for age) for children under the age of five in Meghalaya has dropped from 15.3 to 12.1 per cent and 28.9 to 26.6 per cent, respectively. According to the chief minister, the rate of underweight children has dropped ‘tremendously’ from 26.6 to 7.98 per cent in 2023.
According to Sangma, the Early Child Development (ECD) programme will improve all the services at the grassroot and focus a lot on the emotional and mental health of a child.
“The government is extending the benefits of ECD programme to a large number of uncovered villages,” the chief minister said, adding that for a village to have an Anganwadi centre, the population varies from 300-800 and for a mini centre, the population is 150-300; however, many of the villages in rural Meghalaya do not have that kind of population.