78% of severely malnourished children in Pune ZP showed improvement after intervention

Ayush Prasad, CEO at ZP, said that in December and January, Pune ZP initiated an advanced screening of 3.28 lakh children in the age groups of 0-6 years

After intervention and regular screening of children for malnutrition by the health department of the Zilla Parishad (ZP), 78 per cent of the severely malnourished children have shown improvement.

Overall numbers of malnourished children have fallen and there has especially been an improvement in individual children identified as malnourished, says official. (REPRESENTATIONAL PHOTO)

Ayush Prasad, chief executive officer (CEO) at ZP, said that in December and January, Pune ZP initiated an advanced screening of 3.28 lakh children in the age groups of 0-6 years.

“The identified children needing interventions were classified into those needing nutritional, medical and surgical interventions. Some children required a combination of two or more types of intervention. Pune ZP has been working on ‘malnourishment free Pune’ for the last two years with encouraging results,” said Prasad.

He added that overall numbers of malnourished children have fallen and there has especially been an improvement in individual children identified as malnourished.

“Among the children found to be severely malnourished, 78 per cent of children have shown improvement due to the integrated programme. Among the marginally malnourished children, 68 per cent of the children have shown improvement. The children whose nutritional status continues to be poor will be checked by specialists and dieticians. We will continue to intervene as per their specific needs,” said Prasad.