India is home to the highest number of stunted (low height for age) and wasted (low weight for height) children in the world, according to the Global Nutrition Report 2018. Districts in central and north India (Bahraich, Shrawasti in Uttar Pradesh, Paschimi Singhbhum in Jharkhand and Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh for example) have the highest number and proportion of stunted children.
A comparison with the Multidimensional Poverty Index data for these districts shows that there is a high correlation between MPI and stunting/wasting. Higher the MPI, the worse off was the district on the stunting/wasting counts.
Among communities, children belonging to the Scheduled Tribes had the worst measures on stunting and wasting in 2016. But stunting measures for children across communities had come down since 2006. In India, two of five children are stunted, which is far higher than the global average (21%). Wasting characterises one in five children, also higher than the global mean (6.1%)