Vidarbha's Children Still Stunted

thenewsdirt
Jun 26
6 min read

An image showing a stunted Indian child — Vidarbha's Children Still Stunted

Childhood stunting rates in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region reveal alarming levels of malnutrition affecting thousands of children under five years of age.

The most comprehensive data available from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21) reveals stark variations in stunting rates across Vidarbha districts.

According to NFHS-4 (2015-16) data, Yavatmal recorded the highest stunting rate at 47.4%, followed by Buldhana at 43.9% and Akola at 41.2%. In contrast, Wardha showed the lowest rate at 30.5%, with Gadchiroli at 32.5% and Chandrapur at 32.2%.

The transition from NFHS-4 to NFHS-5 brought mixed results across the region. Amravati, Nagpur, and Wardha districts fell into the "comparatively low burden" category, with stunting rates ranging from 20.2% to 29%. However, Buldhana, Chandrapur, and Washim remained in the "high burden" category with rates ranging from 31.7% to 38.9%.

Maharashtra's overall stunting rate stood at 35.5% in NFHS-5, representing a slight increase from the 34.4% recorded in NFHS-4. This upward trend at the state level contrasts with the national decline from 38% in 2016 to 35.5% in 2019-21.

The tribal population across Vidarbha faces disproportionate challenges. NFHS-5 data shows that 41.4% of tribal children under five years experience stunting, significantly higher than the state average.

Gadchiroli, with its tribal population of 38.7%, exemplifies these challenges, though the district has shown promise in malnutrition recovery programmes.

Between October 2021 and April 2022, Gadchiroli achieved a 50.1% recovery rate among children identified with Severe Acute Malnutrition.

This success demonstrates that targeted interventions can yield results even in areas facing substantial malnutrition burdens.

A community-based cross-sectional survey conducted by the Public Health Department between December 2021 and March 2022 across six Vidarbha districts aimed to assess nutritional status.

However, the specific stunting percentages for all districts from this survey remain unavailable in public reports, highlighting the challenge of obtaining real-time, comprehensive data for the region.

Malnutrition Causes: Poverty, Poor Sanitation Drive Child Stunting Rates

Poverty emerges as the fundamental driver of undernutrition across Vidarbha. Insufficient household income directly limits families' access to adequate food, creating chronic hunger and nutrient deficiencies.

This financial constraint undermines the effectiveness of supplementary feeding programmes, including the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, as children from persistently hungry families find single school meals insufficient to reverse their nutritional status.

Maternal education levels correlate strongly with child undernutrition rates. Studies consistently show that mothers with lower educational attainment possess less awareness about optimal child feeding practices, hygiene, and healthcare-seeking behaviours.

Early maternal age at first pregnancy and short birth intervals further compound these challenges, creating adverse outcomes for both mothers and children.

Low birth weight serves as a significant predictor of stunting. Children born underweight face 2.5-fold higher odds of being stunted compared to those with normal birth weight. This disparity often begins during pregnancy due to inadequate maternal dietary intake.

Environmental conditions across Vidarbha create additional health vulnerabilities. Limited access to improved water and sanitation facilities correlates strongly with higher undernutrition and stunting risks.

Groundwater in districts including Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Yavatmal frequently exceeds permissible contamination limits, contributing to waterborne illnesses.

Contaminated water sources lead to increased cases of diarrhoea, which, alongside recurrent infections such as cough, fever, and acute respiratory infections, significantly raises undernutrition risks in children. Overcrowded household living conditions further heighten infection risks.

Inadequate dietary practices directly contribute to stunting. Low feeding frequency and insufficient consumption of diverse, nutrient-rich foods, including eggs, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables, correlate with stunting and poor linear growth in children aged 6-23 months. Traditional practices in tribal areas, such as withholding colostrum from newborns, limit crucial early-life nutrition.

The standardised nutritional design of government programmes often fails to align with traditional food practices and the higher caloric requirements of tribal children.

This mismatch reduces programme effectiveness in addressing specific community needs.

Anaemia affects 74.3% of children aged 6-59 months in Vidarbha according to NFHS-5 data, further compounding nutritional challenges.

Sickle cell disease, accounting for approximately 70% of Maharashtra's cases, shows particular prevalence in tribal communities across Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, and Gondia, contributing significantly to anaemia rates.

Health Officials and Families Document Malnutrition Impact Across Vidarbha

Health officials have consistently acknowledged the severity of child malnutrition across the region. A senior state official emphasised the importance of findings from surveys like the IIPS-UNICEF Comprehensive Nutrition Survey, describing such data as crucial for formulating comprehensive nutrition policies.

Officials within the state's women and child development department attribute reported improvements in some areas to various schemes implemented in tribal areas, including initiatives focused on women's empowerment and the introduction of digital Anganwadis.

Dr. Abhay Bang of SEARCH, an organisation working actively in Gadchiroli, has called for deeper studies into correlations between different data sources, indicating that a nuanced understanding remains necessary for effective intervention planning.

Judicial concerns about the malnutrition scale have also emerged. In 2017, the Bombay High Court expressed profound concern over high rates of malnutrition-related deaths and illness in Maharashtra, particularly in Vidarbha's Melghat region. The court observed that the state's progress and prosperity seemed "pointless" given the situation where significant percentages of children remained malnourished and lived below the poverty line.

Personal accounts from affected families reveal the human cost of stunting and undernutrition. Sunita Dandekar from Nanded recounted the tragic loss of her baby, highlighting malnutrition as a significant factor in pre-term deliveries and neonatal mortality.

Her experience illuminated difficulties faced by women from lower economic backgrounds in accessing nutritious food and challenges in accessing government food grain schemes due to documentation requirements.

Sharmila, a Korku Adivasi mother from Amravati, shared the story of her two-year-old son's death due to severe wasting and acute malnutrition. Her account detailed how chronic diarrhoea and fever exacerbated his condition.

She described traditional feeding practices that included processed snacks like chips and biscuits alongside staple foods, reflecting challenges of ensuring adequate nutrition while managing daily labour demands.

Limited access to healthcare services, particularly in remote tribal areas, compounds these challenges. Poor transportation infrastructure and economic constraints restrict families' ability to access health facilities or purchase necessary supplements and iron-rich foods.

This lack of access means that even when children suffer from acute malnutrition, they may not receive timely identification and appropriate interventions.

Rural areas consistently exhibit higher percentages of undernourished children compared to urban centres. NFHS-5 data indicates a rural stunting rate of 35.5% compared to an urban rate of 34.9%. This urban-rural divide, combined with tribal identity, creates particularly acute vulnerability to stunting.

The data reveals that childhood stunting remains deeply entrenched across Vidarbha despite broader improvements at national and state levels.

The uneven progress between districts underscores the complexity of addressing malnutrition in diverse socio-economic contexts. Tribal communities and rural populations continue to face disproportionate challenges, reflecting the intersection of geographical isolation, poverty, and limited access to essential services.

The voices of affected families and observations from health officials provide crucial context to the statistical reality of this ongoing public health challenge.