AURANGABAD: A survey has found 1,333 severely acute malnourished children in Maharashtra's Aurangabad, a district official said on Thursday.
The survey was carried out through 3,455 Anganwadis in nine talukas of the district between August 17 and 31, the official of the Aurangabad Zilla Parishad (ZP) told reporters.
In June this year, the ZP's Women and Child Welfare Department had carried out a routine survey, in which it had found 343 severely acute malnourished children in the age group of six months to six years, he said.
"The ZP then initiated a fresh and detailed survey last month. The survey, conducted on 2,11,273 children, was carried out through 3,455 Anganwadis," Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the ZP, Prasad Mirkale, said.
"We found 1,333 severely acutely malnourished children, while the number of moderately acute malnourished children in the district is 7,461. Early marriages, low birth weight, the gap between two pregnancies, high-risk mothers and wrong eating habits are some of the reasons behind this," he added.
The highest number 241 severely acutely malnourished children were found in Gangapur taluka, he said.
"We will start providing nutritional food to these kids and the dosage will be decided by doctors. The children will be medically examined and hospitalised if needed. We will monitor their health for the next three months and see to it that their condition improves," Mirkale said.