Ramechhap, June 29

As many as 93 children below five years have been suffering from malnutrition in Ramechhap district.

A report was prepared after a local non-governmental organisation, Tamakoshi Service Committee, conducted a survey in coordination with UNICEF in all the VDCs and municipalities of the district.

A total of 560 children have been partly affected by malnutrition in the district. The children whose arms’ width was measured at less than 115 millimetres have been included in the list of severe case of malnutrition, whereas children with 125 millimetre wide arms have been kept in the list of moderate to severe malnutrition.

The survey was conducted among 17,545 children below five years of age in the district, said Tamakoshi Service Committee’s Nutrition Programme District Coordinator Nidhu Dangal. “Children above six months and below five years of age were included in the survey,” he said. Nutrition Officers and health assistants were deployed across the VDCs and municipalities for the survey.

As many as 14,590 children of 45 VDCs and two municipalities of the district were fed balVita biscuits aiming to reform the kids’ nutrition level in coordination with UNICEF, said coordinator Dangal.

Chief of District Health Office, Ramechhap Dr Prakash Sah said malnutrition was detected in 357 pregnant women and new mothers. He said nutrition officers were launching door-to-door campaigns in order to raise awareness among locals.