Bajura, June 19

More than 70 per cent of children in Aamkot of Bajura are suffering from malnutrition. However, government bodies in the district seem to be least concerned about the problem.

Bajura District Health Office and Brahmatola Health Post in Budhiganga Municipality have not even bothered to keep record of such children. As per the record with these two bodies, there is only child suffering from malnutrition in Aamkot, Bajura.

According to District Health Office and the health post, three-year-old Phulchan Nepali from Aamkot is the only one suffering from malnutrition. But Phulchan’s parents claim that their daughter Suchana Nepali is also suffering from malnutrition.

Similarly, three children of Setu Nepali of the same village are also suffering from malnutrition. She said that a mild type of malnutrition was seen in her daughters Ishika, 4, one-and-a-half-years old Babita and three-month-old Parbati. “We face severe food crisis for almost nine months a year as our food grains last only for three months,” she added.

Another woman Debaki, 18, has two children. Her four-month-old son is normal while her one-and-a-half-years old daughter is suffering from malnutrition.

“Considering our perpetual state of poverty, providing nutritious diet to our children is beyond our imagination,” she said.

A local, Tara Nepali, said that around 70 per cent children of 60 families in Aamkot were suffering from malnutrition. He said government data showed there was only one under-nourished child in the area because many villagers could not even afford to take their children to health posts.

“Some even do not prefer to take their children to health posts due to lack of awareness,” he added.

Meanwhile, Health Coordinator Dipak Sha in Budhiganga Municipality said that children with malnutrition could be found in almost every household in the village.