OPSC Mains & Prelims
Odisha Specific
Health & Nutrition
Rising Underweight and Wasting Among Odisha’s Under-5 Children
Odisha has recorded a disturbing rise in underweight and wasting among under-5 children, despite an overall improvement in stunting, per an NFHS-5 vs NFHS-6 comparison.
STUNTING
Declined 31% → 26.8%
BALESHWAR UNDERWEIGHT
Jumped 22.6% → 33.7%
WORST-HIT DISTRICTS
Rayagada, Malkangiri, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj
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About the News
- Odisha has recorded a disturbing rise in underweight and wasting among under-5 children, despite an overall improvement in stunting, according to an NFHS-5 vs NFHS-6 comparison.
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Analysis: Divergence Between Chronic and Acute Indicators
- Stunting captures cumulative, inter-generational deprivation and chronic poverty — its decline from 31% to 26.8% reflects past structural gains in institutional deliveries, sanitation (SBM) and long-term poverty alleviation.
- Wasting, in contrast, captures acute, short-term shocks — seasonal food deficits, waterborne infections (diarrhoea, enteropathy) and immediate dietary gaps.
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Analysis: Tribal and Regional Disparity (Coastal vs. KBK/Northern Plateau)
- Coastal districts like Puri (stunting 9.3%, wasting 12.7%) show strong social indicators, while southern and northern tribal-dominated districts — Rayagada, Malkangiri, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj — continue to carry a disproportionate malnutrition burden.
Emergence of Coastal Vulnerabilities
- The sharpest percentage jump in underweight prevalence occurred in Baleshwar (22.6% to 33.7%), showing undernutrition is not confined to remote interior pockets but can spike in agrarian/coastal belts due to micro-level livelihood vulnerabilities.
Baleshwar’s underweight prevalence jumped over 11 percentage points (22.6% → 33.7%) — a coastal, non-tribal district, complicating the assumption that malnutrition is purely a “tribal interior” problem.
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Key Policy Interventions & Governance Frameworks
POSHAN Abhiyaan & Mission Saksham Anganwadi
Demands a shift from programmatic coverage to real-time growth monitoring, upgraded Anganwadi infrastructure and fortified Take-Home Rations (THR).
MAMATA Scheme (Odisha)
Conditional cash transfer for pregnant and lactating women — critical for reducing low birth weight and supporting infant feeding in the first 1,000 days.
SAM Protocols
Scaling up Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) and community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) for high-wasting districts like Malkangiri and Keonjhar.
Dietary Diversification
Expanding ragi (mandia) under the Odisha Millets Mission, pulses and animal-source proteins (eggs/milk) in supplementary nutrition to bridge micronutrient gaps.
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Source: NFHS-5 & NFHS-6 (Odisha)
