over-2-lakh-children-malnourished-in-gujarat-govt

More than two lakh children across 20 districts of Gujarat are suffering from malnutrition, the state government informed the Assembly on Saturday, adding that several measures were being implemented to address the issue.

 

Replying to questions raised during Question Hour, Manisha Vakil, Minister for Women and Child Development, said that a total of 2.05 lakh children were identified as malnourished in the 20 districts as of January 2026.

 

Of these, nearly 1.69 lakh children were classified as underweight, while 36,805 fell under the category of severely underweight, she told the House.

 

Data tabled by the minister showed that Panchmahal district reported the highest number of malnourished children at 20,762. It was followed by Banaskantha district with 19,391 cases and Kheda district with 18,590 cases.

 

Other districts with significant numbers included Sabarkantha district (16,588), Dahod district (16,388), Chhotaudepur district (16,322), Narmada district (8,881) and Mahisagar district (7,838).

 

Among the 20 districts listed, the tribal-dominated Tapi district recorded the lowest number of malnourished children at 4,424.

Also read: ₹171-cr safety works on NH-44 completed in J&K: Gadkari

Meanwhile, the highly urbanised districts of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar reported 6,411 and 6,467 malnourished children respectively, according to the data.

 

Vakil also informed the Assembly that in the past year, an additional 1,164 malnourished children were recorded in Kheda and Chhotaudepur districts. At the same time, nearly 1.59 lakh children in the 20 districts had been moved out of the malnourished category during that period through intervention measures.

 

“The state government is taking various steps to end malnutrition. Fortified nutritious food is provided to children in all Anganwadi centres. Moreover, women receive nutritious food for 1,000 days before and after birth for the sake of the children's health,” the minister said.

 

She added that supplementary nutrition is also provided to children enrolled in Anganwadi centres and to pregnant and lactating mothers under several schemes.

 

These include the Take Home Ration scheme, Dudh Sanjeevani scheme and Poshan Sudha scheme, which aim to improve nutritional outcomes among children and mothers in the state.