Child Malnutrition in Tribal Areas: Evidence from Gujarat.

Abstract

Given the persistent nutritional deprivation in children up to 5 years of age in tribal belts of the nation, this paper attempts to understand incidence and causes of malnutrition among them. The rate of stunting (too short for their age) and underweight (too thin for their age) in tribal children was observed to be 58.4% and 44.4%, respectively. One in every four children was wasted or too thin for their height. Even during the first two years of life, when most babies are breastfed; respectively, 62% and 43% tribal children were found stunted and underweight. Since the prevalence of ‘stunting’ and ‘underweight’ is significantly more when compared to ‘wasting’, it is believed that children from the study areas have been adversely affected by food scarcity over a long period of time.