In Gujarat, 92% of children aged 6-23 months not getting adequate diet: NFHS survey

Ahmedabad: The share of Gujarat’s children who are stunted — too short for their age, a marker of long-term nutritional deprivation — has fallen from 39.0% to 35.3% between the last two national health surveys.

The share of “wasted” children or those dangerously thin for their height dropped more sharply, from 25.1% to 20.2%. Even the rate of severe wasting was nearly halved, sliding from 10.6% to 5.4%.

These are real improvements. Kerala, India’s benchmark state for child health, records stunting at just 20.1%.

While the proportion of underweight children also dipped from 39.7% to 35.5%, more than a third of the state’s toddlers still lack the physical bulk they need to thrive.

The hardest truth lies in the nursery bowl. Only 7.8% of children aged 6 to 23 months receive an “adequate diet”. Though an improvement over the 5.9% seen four years ago, it still leaves a massive 92.2% gap in basic nutrition during the most vital months of human growth.

Even the share of infants starting on solid or semi-solid foods between six and eight months rose to 53.2% from 42.0%. However, the nutritional quality of that food remains unclear.

Mothers are winning the first hour. Breastfeeding within 60 minutes of birth jumped from 37.8% to 46.9%. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months also rose from 65.0% to 71.4%.