Maharashtra’s Child Stunting Declines: What is Driving Them? Findings of a Multidisciplinary Analysis, 2014.
Authors: Haddad, L., Nisbett, N., Barnett, Inka., Valli, E. Institute of Development Studies.
In 2005, an alarming 39 percent of children were stunted in Maharashtra state, the second largest state in India with a population of over 100 million people. By 2012, a survey revealed that this number dropped to 24 percent among children under the age of two.
According to the authors, a number of key factors, working in tandem, contributed to Maharashtra state’s reduction in stunting. The launch of the state’s Nutrition Mission and the National Rural Health Mission created strong political will to improve nutritional status of young children. Because NTDs can contribute to malnutrition, Maharashtra state’s Nutrition Mission Action Plan ensured that deworming tablets were distributed to children at risk for intestinal worm infections. And promisingly, the number of children receiving deworming treatments more than doubled, increasing from 8 percent to 19 percent. Maharashtra’s efforts towards addressing NTDs is a positive step in the right direction to lower the occurrence of stunted children and subsequent malnutrition among young children.
IDS also noted that other important factors in the reduction of stunting include: a favorable political, social and economic environment; strong economic growth; robust poverty reduction performance; and improvements in women’s empowerment and health. In the same manner, addressing NTDs requires a multi-pronged approach. In addition to deworming, creating an enabling environment for children will amplify the possibilities for the future, particularly by simultaneously improving access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene and delivering key nutrition interventions like Vitamin A alongside deworming treatments.
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