What are the findings of the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey?

The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey was conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in association with UNICEF between February 2016 and October 2018.

Findings of the Study

• About 10% of children in the age group of 5-9 years and adolescents in the age group of 10-19 years are pre-diabetic, 5% are overweight and another 5% suffer from blood pressure.
• It is the first official report which provides hard evidence of the coexistence of obesity and undernutrition among school-going children.
• A quarter of 5-9 and 10-19 year-olds were thin for their age, one in five children 5-9 years’ old were stunted.
• A total of 1.12 lakh children and adolescents (0-19 years) were surveyed for height and weight measurements and 51,029 children (1-19 years) for biological samples.

The survey was the first study undertaken to measure malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies through biochemical measures such as blood and urine samples, anthropometric data as well as details of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and adolescents.

The survey is different from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) which also collects anthropometric data (weight for age, height for age, weight for height, mid-upper arm circumference) to measure the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight and household dietary intake to measure deficiencies. The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey focused on school-going children between the age of 5 and 19 years whereas in NFHS data is collected for children in the age group of 1-5 years and adults.