The Covid-19 has left a devastating impact on the health index of children in Bankura ~ one of the backward Bengal districts reeling under acute malnutrition and underweight syndrome among the children, which has however been considered as a matter of prime concern by the district administration and the authorities have planned to gear up ‘operation Pushti’ at the earliest.

Pandemic has amplified the number of underweight children in Bankura district. A study tabled to the district administration stated: “We have identified 1,627 such children, out of which 10 per cent can be suffering from severe and acute malnutrition. The reason can be the closure of ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) Centres since March 2020 and reduced employment and cash-flow to parents.”

In 2019, the figure of children suffering from severe malnutrition in the district was 770. In January, 2018, Bankura Christian College researchersPrithviraj Karak and Rajkumar Maity had submitted a report with Priya Das and Anushree Karmakar in which they had assessed anthropometric measurements to assess the nutritional status of Bankura primary students.

The World Health Organisation had set a BMI (Body Mass Index) value as a cut-off to categorise malnutrition that categorises less than 16 kg per square metre as severe malnutrition and 16 kg to 17 kg per square metre as moderate malnutrition.

The study revealed that in 2018, most of the cases were moderate malnutrition, which incidentally has turned acute during the lockdown period. “We have decided to launch ‘operation Pushti’ so as to improve the health and nutritional standards of the children of our district, focusing on capitalizing our demographic dividend,” said K Radhika Aiyar, DM, Bankura.

She added: “We have plans to use the technical expertise of UNICEF for required supplements.” ‘Operation Pushti’ has a two-fold aim – to create awareness about the importance of breastfeeding, skin to skin care and the need for nutritious food to fight the menace of hidden hunger.

Secondly, to provide additional nutrition supplements in the form of RTUF (ready-to-use therapeutic food) comprising a mix of micro-nutrients and fortified fruits and grains to reinvigorate the need for nutritional
standards in malnourished children.