Diarrhoea accounts for 10 per cent of the deaths among children under the age of five years, with India having third highest proportion of such fatalities in South East Asia, the government said today.
"As per the World Health Statistics 2015, 10 per cent of under-five child deaths are caused by diarrhoea in India.
"In comparison to South East Asian countries, India has the third highest proportion of child deaths caused by diarrhoea after Afghanistan (13 per cent) and Pakistan (11 per cent)," Union Health Minister J P Nadda said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
Under the National Health Mission (NHM), the ministry has undertaken promotion of early breastfeeding along with complementary feeding, making available ORS packets, initiation of vitamin A supplementation programme for children up to five years, awareness campaign for mothers, making available antibiotics for treatment of dysentery, amongst others.
"Surveillance activities to detect outbreaks of diarrhoea through integrated disease surveillance programme are also being carried out," Nadda said.
Replying to another question, Minister of State for Health Shripad Naik said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has carried out three comprehensive nutrition surveys -- in tribal population in 10 states (2008-09), in rural population in 10 states (2011-12) and in urban population in 2014-15.
The tribal survey revealed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity was about one per cent among children aged 6-17 years and three percent among adults.
The rural survey reported the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 1-2 per cent among 6-17 years of children and it was 12 per cent among adults, Naik said.
He said the other sporadic studies carried out among urban children and adolescents in India in different parts of the country revealed that the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity was 10-32 per cent.
He said the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, conducted a study entitled 'Assessment of consumption of carbonated water beverages and its ill effects on urban adolescents and young adults'.
The study revealed that the quantity of consumption of carbonated (non-alcoholic) beverages is very low when compared with developed countries where its effect on gain in body weight was also significant, the minister said.
