Noida: 3,396 children are acutely malnourished in district
An inspection of anganwadis to identify children with malnourishment has found that as many as 3,396 children in the district are acutely malnourished.
An inspection of anganwadis to identify children with malnourishment has found that as many as 3,396 children in the district are acutely malnourished.
The drive began on Thursday with the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) visiting five centres in Noida following the instructions of the district administration. CDPO Vishal Yadav said, “Today, I visited the five centres in Sector 9 and one centre was found closed. On Wednesday, I visited 10 centres and two of them were found closed. I have issued showcause notices to centres that were closed.”
According to Yadav, Noida city has 100 anganwadi centres. These are primarily run in jhuggi clusters. The inspection drive will continue till September 30, he said.
“Several workers were found not wearing uniforms. They were warned that disciplinary action will be taken against them in future,” Yadav said. During a weight measurement drive conducted this month, 3,396 children in the age group of 0 to 5 were found to be acutely malnourished and 9,326 moderately malnourished, the CDPO said.
“According to UNICEF Rapid survey, there are around 9.4% children under the acutely malnourished category in Gautam Budh Nagar district which calculates to around 22,000 children. During our weight measurement drive, only 3,396 acutely malnourished children were detected,” Yadav said.
In Jewar area, 554 acutely malnourished and 1,413 moderately malnourished children were identified. In Noida, 330 acutely malnourished and 1,240 moderately children were identified.
“Earlier, only around 250 critical malnourished children were identified in the district. This time, the DM had directed the anganwadi workers not to underplay the figures of malnourished children in these centres,” Yadav said.