The findings of the NFHS may not be wholly accurate but are nonetheless significant in that they indicate a broad trend of slow improvement.

For instance, when it comes to children suffering from anaemia, 69 per cent of the surveyed children in the age group of 6 and 35 months were found to be anaemic. In terms of residential status, 58 per cent of surveyed children in urban areas were found to be anaemic while the corresponding figure for rural children is 72 per cent.

In Kolkata alone, 64 per cent of the total children covered in the survey were found to be anaemic. But there is an improvement over the 1998-99 figure in which 78 per cent of the total children surveyed were found to be anaemic. Again, 63.8 per cent of women in the age group of 15 and 49 years were found to be anaemic which is only a slight improvement over the 1998-99 scenario when 62.7 per cent women were anaemic.

The state government authorities have, however, assured that they have pulled up its socks to reduce cases of anaemia.