A tragic case from Madhya Pradesh has again highlighted the state’s long battle with malnutrition. On Saturday, 16th August, a 15-month-old girl called Divyanshi, from Shivpuri district, died at the district hospital. Disastrously, she weighed just 3.7 kg, well short of the normal weight for her age.
According to media reports, doctors treating her disclosed that her haemoglobin reading was as low as 7.4 g/dl, critically low for survival. She had already been identified in the state’s Dastak Abhiyan, for which health workers had persuaded her family to take her to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC).
Her mother said that her in-laws prevented her from undergoing treatment, just because the child was a daughter. “Whenever she was sick, they used to tell, “Let her die, she is just a daughter.”
This case follows only two days after the death of another girl, Radhika, who was one-and-a-half years old, in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh. At the time of her death, she was merely 2.5 kg in weight. According to her mother, although she was born normal, her body gradually weakened and her limbs became thin as sticks. In Bhind district as well, recently a toddler passed away under the same conditions, with the families attributing her death to malnutrition, although doctors provided contrasting views.
These recurring deaths underline a harsh truth: in spite of government assurances and campaigns, Madhya Pradesh remains one of the worst-hit states when it comes to child malnutrition.
Malnutrition cases in different states
Malnutrition just refers to the fact that the body is not receiving enough of the proper nutrients that it requires to live and develop. In children, it is much worse. It can prevent growth, impair immunity, and in extreme cases, cause death.
Government data released by the Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry in 2024 reveal the gravity of the situation. Uttar Pradesh leads the list with 46.36% of children being stunted, or nearly half the children of the state failing to grow based on age. Lakshadweep is close second with 46.31%, Maharashtra (44.59%) and Madhya Pradesh (41.61%) also reporting terribly alarming numbers.
In case of underweight children, Madhya Pradesh again has the highest figure of 26.21%, followed by Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (26.41%) and Lakshadweep (23.25%).
When it comes to wasting, a symptom of acute malnutrition in which children rapidly lose weight – Lakshadweep leads the pack once again at 13.22% of children suffering from it. Bihar (9.81%) and Gujarat (9.16%) are not far behind, indicating that a large number of children there are either not consuming sufficient food or are repeatedly falling ill.
