Addressing Nutritional Gaps in Children under Two in Rural India

It is now well recognized that most of the children under two years of age, especially children 6 to 18 months, are extremely undernourished, underweight and stunted. More than half of the world's underweight children live in just three countries, namely, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The National Family Health Survey (1992 - 93) has found the prevalence of under nutrition to be very high in India. The survey found more than half (53per cent) of all children under age four to be underweight and a similar proportion (52per cent) to be stunted.