More than 63,000 kids found anaemic in Maharashtra in 7 months

Pune: Over 63,000 children in the age group of 0-18 years have been found with anaemia in the state in the last seven months under the health department's 'Jagruk Paalak, Sudrud Baalak' (aware parents, healthy children) campaign.

Over 2.25 crore children have been screened under the campaign in the state since February this year. Of these, as many as 1,76,488 children were found with various deficiencies, including highest 63,247 with moderate or severe anaemia - a medical condition in which there are not enough red cells in the blood.

Anaemia in children and adolescents results in poor intellectual ability, school performance and physical development.

Dr Santosh Mane, assistant health officer, state health department, said, "This is the first time we have screened such a large number of children. While the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram and Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram cater to the health of children and adolescents, they only focus on government school students. This campaign, however, is targeted at children from private schools and out-of-school children too, including those at orphanages. Once we know that the child is anaemic, we can provide them with vitamin and iron supplements."

As per the health department, a person or child with 8-11.4g per decilitre of haemoglobin is considered as mild to moderate anaemic, while those with less than 8g per decilitre of haemoglobin are considered as severe anaemic.

Dr Parag Gaikwad, past president of the Indian Association of Paediatrics (IAP), Pune chapter, said, "Under the Union government's policy, iron tablets are given to all adolescent girls, young women and pregnant women. The strategy is simple, strong mothers give birth to strong children...We have, however, seen that compliance and palatability is the primary problem with children. The IAP had suggested some out-of-the-box recommendations to the government. If a child is confirmed anaemic, the treatment can include 2-3mg of iron per kg of child's weight, for which the child must be de-wormed first. If the child is on the verge of becoming anaemic or is a picky eater or do not have any good source of nutritious food, 2mg of iron per kg of child's weight should be continued for three months."

Dr Aarti Kinikar, head of the paediatric department at the BJ Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, "The existing nutritional guidelines are good enough to curb anaemia. But this cannot be done by the government alone. We need community participation so that the guidelines are implemented at the grassroot level. An anaemic mother can give birth to a pre-term or a malnourished baby. So, pregnant women and adolescent girls need to take care of their health."

Under the nutritional guidelines, a nutritional plate include 2/4th of green leafy vegetables and red and yellow vegetables and fruits, 1/4th of grain, pulses and millet, while 1/4th should be protein, she said.