Hyderabad: As many as 31.8% of children aged below five years were found to be underweight in Telangana in 2019-2020, said a report released by the Council for Social Development (CSD) here on Monday.
According to the report, the districts of Adilabad (52%), Kamareddy (43%), and Medak (42%) have the highest percentage of underweight children below the age of five, while Hyderabad (18.9%), Medchal-Malkajgiri (25%), and Bhadradri Kothagudem (25.3%) have the lowest percentage of underweight children in the same age category.
The CSD’s findings were published in a detailed statistical report on district-wise health and demographic status in Telangana. The report is based on two rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – Round 4 (2015-2016) and Round 5 (2019-2020) conducted after the formation of the state in 2014.
The report takes into account 99 indicators at the district level as opposed to 131 indicators available at the state level. Some of the indicators are population and household profile, literacy rate of women among different age groups, marriage and fertility, maternal and child health, various vaccinations required for children, nutritional status among women of different age groups, and tobacco and alcohol consumption among adults.
The report also said that more than half of the state’s women population, 64.7%, is anaemic.
According to the report, the literacy rate of women between the ages of 15 to 49 years is the lowest in the Jogalamba Gadwal district at just 45%. Women in Hyderabad have the highest literacy rate of 83.6%. The average literacy percentage of the state is 66.6%.
CSD envisages understanding the status of these indicators at state and district levels across various attributes in hope of better policy-making and governance for a healthier population, said a press release from the Telangana government.
The socio-economic attributes such as gender (male, female), social categories (SC/ST/OBC/GEN), location (rural/urban), the economic status based on occupation and level of education, to mention a few.
