IMPAIRS MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN KIDS 
AND MAKES THEM SUSCEPTIBLE TO ILLNESS.THE NEED OFTHE HOUR IS TO FOCUS ON PREVENTIVE MEASURES LIKE ORS(ORAL REHYDRATION THERAPY) &EXCLUSIVE BREAST-FEEDING FOR THE FIRST SIX MONTHS. BUT THE QUESTION IS THAT IS IT TAKING PLACE AS REQUIRED.
LET US OBSERVE CERTAIN FACTS : INDIA HAS THE DISTINCTION OF HAVING:
75% OF ALL INFANTS BETWEEN 6 AND 35 MONHTS OF AGE ARE ANAEMIC.
45.8% KIDS ARE EXCLUSIVELY BREAST-FED(0-6months).THIS IS A 1% DECLINE FROM THE LAST SURVEY.
34.9% INITIATED BREAST FEEDING WITHIN ONE HOUR. THIS IS AN IMPROVEMENT BUT THE EXPERT SAY IT ISSTILL AT A SUB-OPTIMAL LEVEL.
ONLY 34% KIDS WITH DIARRHOEA RECIEVED ORS (oral rehydration therapy)
ONE IN THREE CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF THREE ARE CLINICALLY UNDERWEIGHT.
MARZIO BABILLE, UNICEF'S 
CHIEF OF HEALTH IN INDIA SAYS "THE FIRST FEW YEARS ARE CRUCIAL AND THREE INTERVENTIONS - EXCLUSIVE BREAST-FEEDING, ORAL REHYDRATION THERAPY(ORS) AND ADEQUATE COMPLIMENTARY FEEDING - ARE AMONG THE MOST EFFECTIVE".
GIVEN BELOW ARE SOME OF THE INDIAN STATES STATISTICS FOR RECORD & REFERENCE: 
PROSPEROUS, GUJARAT HAS REPORTED A RISE IN THE NUMBER OF UNDERNOURISHED (47.4%) & ANAEMIC CHILDREN (80.6%).
LITERATE KERALA, THE NUMBER OF EXTREMELY UNDERNOURISHED CHILDREN HAS ALMOST DOUBLED. THE NUMBER IF UNDERWEIGHT CHILDREN HAS ALSO GONE UP.
KOHINOORED ANDHRA PRADESH, THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN UNDERWEIGHT CHILDREN HAS GONE UP FROM 9% TO 13%. 70% CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF THREE ARE ANAEMIC, AS OPPOSED TO 72.3% IN THE LAST SURVEY. 
INTELECTUAL WEST BENGAL HAS SEEN THE NUMBER OF SEVERELY MALNOURISHED CHILDREN GO UP FROM 13% TO 19%.
CENTRALISED MADHYA PRADESH, THE NUMBER OF UNDERNOURISHED CHILDREN HAS GONE UP FROM 54% TO 60%. THE NUMBER OF SEVERELY UNDERNOURISHED CHILDREN HAS ALSO GONE UP FROM 20% TO 33%.
DROUGHTED ORISSA, HAS REPORTED SOME PROJECTS, WITH THE PERCENTAGE OF SEVERELY MALNOURISHED
CHILDREN GOING DOWN FROM 28 TO 18. INFANT MORTALITY HAS HALVED.
FIVE RIVERED PUNJAB HAS 80% OF CHILDREN ARE ANAEMIC.
POLITICAL CAPITAL DELHI, THE SHARE OF UNDERWEIGHT CHILDREN DIPPED TO 33% FROM 35% BUT THE SHARE OF CHILDREN WHO WERE FULLY IMMUNISED ACTUALLY FELL TO 63% FROM A LEVEL OF 70%.
GLAMOROUS HIMACHAL PRADESH, 
NUMBER OF SEVERELY UNDERNOURISHED CHILDREN HAS INCREASED FROM 17% TO 19%. EVEN THE INFANT MORTALITY RATE HAS GONE UP FROM 34 PER THOUSAND BIRTHS TO 36.
IT IS BEING REALISED BY THE INDIA'S POLICY MAKERS AND HEALTH WORKERS THAT SAVING THE LIVES OF THE BABIES 
DOES NOT REQUIRE ENORMOUS RESOURCES OR COMPLICATED EXPERTISE.
SUNITA KISHORE, GENDER SPECIALIST OF ORC MACRO, OPINES THAT WHEN INDIA IS MAKING ECONOMIC STRIDES. WHILE THE ECONOMY GROWS AT 8%, MALNUTRITION IS GOING DOWN BY 1%."RISING PER CAPITA INCOMES ARE NOT GETTING REFLECTED IN A FUNDAMENTAL INDICATOR - NUTRITION. 
THE BOTTOM LINE WITH A TOUCH OF IRONY IS THAT WHERE 40% OF THE POPULATION IS BELOW THE AGE OF 18? THAT'S DEFINITELY FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
LET THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY PLACE THIS ISSUE ON THEIR ELECTION AGENDAS.
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