Extent and spread of malnutrition among children under five in Indian states.

Children are the most vulnerable victims of undernutrition. Undernutrition increases a child's risk of contracting common infections and also increases the frequency and severity of these illnesses in undernourished children. It is responsible for over half of all fatalities in children under the age of five. Inspite of being one of the fastest growing economies of the world, India ranks only 107th among 121 countries in terms of the global hunger index, 2022. This paper aims at estimating the relative position of various Indian states in terms of child malnutrition. For this purpose, a composite index for malnutrition was worked out for all the states on the basis of state-wise prevalence of stunting, wasting, anemia and low birth weight among children under five. The states were then ranked on the basis of malnutrition index and then classified as those having low, medium or high malnutrition. Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar and Gujarat have high incidence of child malnutrition. The northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and the southern state of Kerala are the best performing states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]