According to the findings of the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) and Vistaar project supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), while the national average for anaemic children below 5 years is 69.5 per cent, Uttar Pradesh stands third with 73.9 per cent, preceded only by Madhya Pradesh with 74.1 per cent and Bihar with 78 per cent.

As the IVth Integrated Child Development Scheme is set to be launched across the country in April this year, Uttar Pradesh still needs to go a long way to tackle this problem.

The findings also suggest that between the two National Family Health Surveys, the rate of anaemia among children below 5 years has increased by 85 per cent in the state.

Although western UP is considered to be a shade better compared to the other regions of the state, this region has still recorded 84.5 per cent children suffering from anaemia.

Dr Madhu Agarwal, regional director of NIPCCD, said: “It is a fact that a large number of government setups as well as NGOs are working to counter this problem. But if we look at the findings of the two NFHS — between 2003 and 2007 — we would see that the percentages have certainly increased.”

Consider some of the facts: In the central region, this number rises to 85.8 per cent, while in eastern and Bundelkhand region, the number shifts to 85.9 and 84.6 per cent respectively.

There has been a striking increase in anaemia among children between 6 to 11 months in the last four years — from 65.3 per cent to 86.4 per cent.

The state also ranks high in anaemia among adolescent children. While 45.8 per cent adolescent girls are anaemic in western UP, this percentage varies from 53.3 per cent in central UP to 47.2 per cent in eastern and 39.7 in Bundelkhand.