Referring to the World Health Statistics report 2012, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Sudip Bandyopadhyay said, "India stands second in the field of underweight children below the age of five years."
In a written reply to a question, the Minister said that malnutrition is multidimensional and intergenerational which requires intervention through various ministries to address its many underlying causes in different stages of life cycle.
In reply to a separate question, he informed the House that pneumonia and diarrhoea are the leading causes of death among the children below five years of age.
"As per report Countdown to 2015, Pneumonia contributes to 11 per cent of deaths and diarrhoea accounts for another 11 per cent of total under-five deaths in India."
For prevention and control of these diseases, he said awareness is being created amongst mothers on sanitation and hygiene and in the communities about causes and treatment of diarrhoea through health education.
"Antibiotics for treatment of pneumonia and dysentery are made available through the public health system," Bandyopadhyay added.
To check high infant mortality rate, he said under the universal immunization program, various vaccines such as DPT, Measles and BCG are provided to children to protect them against diphtheria, pertussis, measles and tuberculosis.
He also tabled reports on steps taken by the government to decrease prevalence of malnutrition among children of various age groups and their impact.
A recent survey shows that in the 100 focus districts, the prevalence of child underweight has decreased from 53.1 per cent in 2002-04 to 42 per cent in 2011, the Ministry said.
