While Gujarat has long been celebrated for its economic prosperity, a staggering reality emerges as the state has witnessed a rise in malnourished children over the past five years.

In response to the questions in the ongoing Assembly sessions, the government replied that there are a total of 5.70 lakh malnourished children now in Gujarat.

The number has kept on increasing since 2018, despite provisions worth crores made for providing nutritious meals to children.

In 2018, the state accounted for a total of 1,18,041 malnourished children, and the number has soared to 1,25,907 in 2022 and further to 5,70,305 in 2023.

Ahmedabad, regarded as one of the most affluent districts, has accounted for the highest number of malnourished children (56,941).

Malnutrition in Gujarat

The number of malnourished children in the districts with the majority of the tribal population is 51,324 and 48,866 in Banaskantha.

The leaders of the opposition condemned the response and said that this is merely the number of children going to Anganwadi; the number may vary because of the unrecorded children.

State minister for social justice and empowerment, and women and child development, Bhanu Babariya, asserted that malnutrition is not solely confined to impoverished families but can also affect financially well-off households.

She emphasised that malnutrition is the result of factors including the condition of the child's birth, the mother's health, social and economic conditions, habits, food habits, and substance use.

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