Mumbai: A survey by anganwadi workers in Mumbai suburbs has found 16,344 malnourished children.
To address this, Guardian Minister Ashish Shelar held a meeting on Thursday at the Mumbai Suburban District Collector’s office, attended by District Collector Rajendra Shirsagar, officials from the Women and Child Development Department, and representatives from the BMC. Shelar directed authorities to take action and submit a detailed report within 10 days to tackle malnutrition in the region.
According to data from the Integrated Child Development Services Nutrition Tracker App, 2,38,094 children were registered in Mumbai suburbs in February 2025. Out of these, the weight and height of 2,34,896 children were measured. Based on these measurements, anganwadi workers recorded 2,887 children as suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition and 13,457 children as having Moderate Acute Malnutrition using the app.
Under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, health check-ups were conducted for severely and moderately malnourished children from October 2024 to February 2025. The findings revealed that 1,159 children were severely malnourished, while 3,096 children were moderately malnourished.
In February 2025 alone, 450 new cases of severe malnutrition and 407 cases of moderate malnutrition were recorded. However, these numbers are still undergoing official verification, with BMC medical officers conducting further assessments.
To combat malnutrition, the BMC Health Department is accelerating screenings and planning to set up more Urban Child Development Centres to provide better care for affected children.
