Wasting in children: 19 Telangana districts worse than national average

HYDERABAD: Subbarao and his wife travelled from Jangaon to state-run Niloufer Hospital in the city seeking treatment for their two-year-old who had been falling ill repeatedly. Diagnosed will pneumonia, the child weighed just 7kg and suffered from ‘wasting’ — a condition when the child’s weight is very less compared to height.
“Such children tend to catch infections more frequently, particularly chronic infections like tuberculosis. On any given day at least 10 children are admitted to the hospital suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Usually, these children present with respiratory issues, cough, cold and pneumonia,” said Dr P Ravi Kumar, paediatrician, Niloufer Hospital. He added that in rare cases, some parents notice that their child is not growing at par with others of their age and bring them in.
As per a recent report tabled in the Rajya Sabha, at least 19 districts in Telangana present figures of ‘wasting’ in children which are above the national average. The report states that 16 districts have prevalence of underweight children while nine have prevalence of stunting. Jogulamba-Gadwal was worst affected with over 35% stunting in children below five years of age. Other districts that showed significant levels of stunting included Jayshankar Bhupalpally, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Asifabad Kumarambheem and Nirmal.
However, doctors say the main reason for these issues has shifted from nutritional deficiency during the 70s, diarrhoea and gastroenteritis in the 90s to chronic diseases now, particularly TB. “If there is a severely malnourished child, we should first suspect TB and HIV,” said Kumar.