BAJURA: More than 70 per cent of the children are suffering from malnutrition in Amkot village of Budhiganga Municipality-1, Bajura district.

Majority of the children in a Dalit settlement with 60 households are undernourished. However, the statistics of District Health Office (DHO), Bajura and a health post show only one child — three-year-old Phulchana Nepali of Amkot — suffering from malnutrition. The statistics show only one malnourished child because only one child was admitted for treatment, claimed local Tara Nepali.

Pregnant women and new mothers in the region cannot afford nutritional diet as most of the villages produce only six months of food, having to ration it for the rest of the year. This has resulted in children being born early or with malnutrition.

The ever-present poverty in the village has not made it any easier making children suffer from lack of nourishment. According to Budhiganga Municipality Health Coordinator Deepak Shah, "We could find malnourished children in many areas, however, we only keep a record of those admitted to the health facilities.

Similarly, many other villages in the district are also witnessing cases of malnutrition.