New Delhi, Feb 22: India has the largest number of
anaemic married women and children, according to UNICEF.
"There is more than one reason for Indian women and
children being anaemic. Low social status of women, poor food
quality, high cost of healthcare facilities and even some
genetic problems are responsible for the problem," UNICEF
India Child Health and Nutrition Chief Werner Schultink told
reporters here on Wednesday.
According to the National Family Health Survey-111
(NFHS-111) survey, over 56.2 per cent married women in the age
group between 15 and 49 were anaemic in 2006 as against 51.8
per cent in 1999.
The survey, which was published jointly with the United
Nations Population Fund, Britain's Department of International
Development (DFID) and Avahan, an initiative of Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, have said that 79.1 per cent of
children between the ages of three to six years were anaemic
in 2006 as against 74.2 per cent in 1999.
He said in the US and Europe, 20 per cent of pregnant
women are anaemic. "Even in Indonesia the anaemia rate among
women is 30 to 40 per cent. The NFHS data suggests the rate of
anaemia has gone up since 1999 in India," he said.
Among the states, Assam is the worst affected, with 72
per cent of married women being anaemic, followed by Haryana
(69.7 per cent) and Jharkhand (68.4 per cent), the survey
said.
In Delhi, as many as 63.2 per cent children in the three
to six year age bracket and 43.4 per cent women between the
age group of 15 and 49 years of age are anaemic, it said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, February 22, 2007, 00:00