Malnutrition among Preschool Children in Karnataka State: A Geographical Analysis

Malnutrition refers to a condition which results when the diet does not contain the right amount of nutrients. Under nutrition and over nutrition are the types of malnutrition. Over nutrition arises from excessive intake of nutrients while under nutrition is the result of insufficient intake of energy and nutrients. It is one of the most important global health issues as there is a very high prevalence of malnutrition in developing countries. Every year, millions of children are either disabled or killed by under nutrition. Malnutrition also obstructs millions more children from reaching their full physical and intellectual growth. Main reasons for malnutrition are poverty, socio-economic status of the parents. As per UNICEF report (2006) “The causes of childhood malnutrition are the insufficient diet, frequent infections, poor breastfeeding practices, delayed introduction of complementary foods and inadequate protein in the diet”. Apart from its adverse effects, malnutrition can be treated with identification and proper management. Though there are many specific programmes like Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) to combat malnutrition, about two third of the under five children in India are malnourished, among them 5 to 8% are severely malnourished. To reduce the prevalence of malnutrition, its magnitude, causes and effects have to be identified promptly. So that the proper measures to control malnutrition can be implemented. Thus, the present paper makes an attempt to highlight the problem of malnutrition in Karnataka state for which the data sources are largely based on secondary data collected from National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-2021), Census of India and online sources etc. Simple methods like charts, graphs and maps have been employed to demonstrate the different degrees of malnutrition in the state.