Press Coverage

• The National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS) states 5.6 per cent children between 6 and 23 months in urban areas and 6.3 per cent children in the rural areas in the same age group receive adequate diet.
• As per the data, 7.5 per cent children between 6 and 23 months in Haryana receive adequate diet.
• Only 9.6 per cent children between 6 and 23 months in India receive adequate diet, the NFHS 4 data states.
• Poor diet in infants can lead to hunger and food insecurity resulting in under nutrition that can impact physical and cognitive development.

Gurgaon, 17^th August 2018: Close to only 6 per cent of children between 6 and 23 months in Gurgaon receive adequate diet, according to the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS) data. While 5.6 per cent urban children in the age group receive adequate diet in Gurgaon, 6.3 per cent children in the age group in rural areas receive adequate diet. In Haryana, 7.5 per cent breastfeeding children between 6 and 23 months in Haryana receive adequate diet.

“Poor dietary practices for infants leave them hungry and do not meet the nutritional requirement of the body. A child’s diet has both short-term and long-term effects on his or her health. The most telling effect of such inadequacy is malnutrition among children. Besides, poor diet in infants can lead to hunger and food insecurity leading to under nutrition that can impact physical and cognitive development later in the life: Absence of fruits, vegetables and dairy products in diet is linked with lower grades, while deficit in nutrients, such as vitamins A, B6, B12, C, iron, zinc, folate and calcium, are linked to higher rates of absenteeism, tardiness and low grades,” says Dr. Manish Mannan, HOD, Pediatrics, Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon.

Gurgaon ranks 12^th among the 22 districts of Haryana according to the NFHS 4 data, based on the youngest child living with the mother. The numbers consider receiving 4 or more food groups and a minimum meal frequency in breastfed children, while non-breastfed children fed with a minimum of 3 infant and young child feeding practices (fed with other milk or milk products at least twice a day, a minimum meal frequency receiving solid or semi-solid food at least twice a day for breastfed infants of 6 to 8 months and at least three times a day for breastfed children between 9 and 23 months, and solid or semi-solid foods from at least 4 food groups not including the milk or milk products food group) are considered.

According to UNICEF, 90 per cent of the developing world’s chronically undernourished (stunted) children living in Asia and Africa. India, according to UNICEF, has more than one third of the world’s children wasted due to malnutrition and accounts for more than 3 out of every 10 stunted children in the world, recognizing that nutrition of children in the first two years of life offers a critical window of opportunity to prevent under nutrition when proven nutrition interventions offer children the best chance to survive and reach optimal growth and development.

Paras Hospitals Gurgaon is among the leading providers of treatment and care in the field of neurosciences, cardiology, orthopedics, nephrology, gastroenterology, and critical care in India.