Children in Banke are dying from malnutrition

 On April 26, 2018, Ramch­abi Barma of Duduwa rural municipal­ity’s Naya Chauferi lost his 18-month-old daughter Rita Barma. District Public Health Office Banke’s focal person for nutrition Jageshwor Bas­net says Rita died because of severe malnutrition. Accord­ing to the office, Naya Chauferi is the second most malnutri­tion-afflicted area in Banke district. The nearby malnutri­tion outpatient treatment cen­ter (OTC) of Betahani health post is currently treating 44 undernourished kids, includ­ing some from Naya Chauferi.In the past 14 months, seven newborn babies have died in just one ward of Banke’s Janaki rural munic­ipality, the worst-affected area in the district. Gagan Singh Saud, in-charge of the local Indrapur health post, informs that most of these babies were between 28 days to six months old. “Most were born premature and under­weight,” he informs.

Even though the local health posts have given different reasons for infant mortal­ity, most were in one way or another victims of malnutri­tion. According to the District Public Health Office, 92 children are suffering from malnutrition in Janaki rural municipality alone.

In the past one year, 34 women gave birth in their own homes in Indrapur of Janaki rural municipality. The locals lack awareness about nutrition, says Munic­ipality Health Coordinator Gir Bahadur Gurung. “While they sell spinach grown in their farms and milk from their cows they feed their children noodles and biscuits. No wonder they are malnour­ished,” Gurung says.

All local level units of Nepal­gunj sub-metropolitan and Kohalpur municipality have elevated levels of malnutri­tion. District malnutrition focal person Jageshwor Bas­net informs that in the past six months, 279 undernourished children have already been treated for malnutrition in the district.

Public health records show that in the past one year 270 children have died in Banke district, mostly from malnutrition.

It looks like the problem of malnutrition is getting worse. Nepalgunj’s Bheri Zonal Hos­pital has treated 1,358 under­nourished kids in the past one decade after it opened its Nutrition Rehabilitation Cen­ter. Most of the 150 malnour­ished children it treats every year on average are from Banke district.

The District of Public Health Office’s Family Planning Super­visor Basant Gaire reveals that among 12,472 children whose weights were measured last year, 1,011 were found under­weight. Among them, 423 were extremely underweight and could be considered malnourished while 588 had moderate weight. To reduce the problem of malnutrition, Banke district has partnered with various NGOs, including Helen Keller International, for better implementation of its integrated nutrition food program.

Helen Keller Internation­al’s Nutritious Food Program Coordinator Indra Auji says the state of malnutrition in the district is dire.

“Under-5 child mortality from malnutrition is acute among the local Madhesi and Muslim communities,” says Auji. “Parents are not much bothered when their children are underweight or even mal­nourished. Malnourished girls are particularly neglected.”