NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The number of youngsters grappling with various types of undernutrition in Sri Lanka increased for the primary time in a minimum of six years in 2022, a government report and data from the health ministry indicate.
The island nation of twenty-two million people is fighting soaring prices, including of food, largely attributable to its worst economic crisis because it gained independence in 1948.
Greater than 43.4% of the country’s children under 5 years of age are affected by nutrition problems, in keeping with the report released in October, with 42.9% affected by some type of undernutrition.
GRAPHIC: Setback for child nutrition in Sri Lanka https://www.reuters.com/graphics/SRILANKA-CRISIS/gdvzqwbxnpw/chart.png
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Read along with data available on the web site of the health ministry’s Family Health Bureau, the numbers indicate that the share of youngsters below five who’re underweight, stunted, or wasting increased in 2022 after dropping steadily since a minimum of 2016.
Around 1.4 million children under the age of 5 were registered with the country’s Public Health Midwives body and the report surveyed slightly below that number.
While 15.3% of the youngsters within the country were found to be underweight as in comparison with 12.2% last yr, 10.1% were affected by wasting, and 9.2% from stunted growth, the report says.
In 2021, 8.2% of youngsters below five were found to be wasting away while 7.4% had stunted growth.
“In 2022, percentages of youngsters under 5 years with any type of undernutrition (growth faltering, underweight, wasting and stunting) has increased in comparison with 2021,” the report says.
“This trend is seen in all age categories (infant, 1-2 years, 2-5 years) and in all three sectors (urban, rural & estate),” it added.
(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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