90 pc Nawalparasi children malnourished
Nawalparasi , Nov 23 - Malnourishment prevalence is high among children in Nawalparasi district, according to a study.
According to the study recently conducted by Women and Children Decentralisation Programme under the District Development Committee, around 90 percent of children in the district are malnourished.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, children suffer from severe acute under nutrition are nine times more vulnerable to die than other children.
Giri Raj Adhikari, coordinator of the programme, said that of the total children, lack of protein and vitamin A is seen among 45 percent and 35 percent children and 78 percent children are anemic.
Lack of awareness on nutrition is the cause of high prevalence of malnutrition, which has long been recognized a consequence of poverty, he said.
Several governmental and non-governmental organisations have been launching vitamin A programmes, but it seems that those programmes have not yielded the expected results, Adhikari said, adding that more needs to be done if the district has to improve on malnutrition.
Like other districts, harmful cultural and traditional practices such as child marriage is still existing in Nawalparasi, which is leading to many women give birth in young age. As a result, their children become anemic and under nourished and have low weight.
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