The number ofanaemiacases among boys aged 15-19 years in India has also shown a significant increase, finds the 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) report that was released in May this year. It finds that 59% of girls and 31% of boys are anaemic, compared to 54% girls and 29% boys found by the 2016NFHS report.
States like Rajasthan,Jharkhand,Chhattisgarhand Uttarakhand showed an alarming increase. The number of anaemic boys inRajasthanrose by 12%, from 22.1% in the previous NFHS report to 34% in the latest one, and the number of teenage anaemic girls went up from 49.1% to 59.4%. Rajasthan’s data was collected from 31,817 households, 42,990 Women and 6,353 men.
In Jharkhand, anaemia among boys rose from 35.3% to 39.7%, higher than the national Average. Among girls, such cases rose from 65% to 65.8%. The data was collected from 22,863 houses, 26,495 women and 3414 men.
In Punjab, cases among boys rose from 30.8% to 32.7%, while cases among girls climbed to 60.3% from 58% in the said period, data for which was taken from 18,824 households, 21,771 women and 3,296 men.
In Chhattisgarh, the increase among boys was around 4%, from 27.4% to 31.5%, but was significant among girls, from 45.5% to 61.4%. This data is based on information collected from 24,550 houses, 24,468 women and 4,174 men.
In Arunachal Pradesh, cases among boys rose from 22.9% to 24.9%. Among girls, it went up from 48.2% to 48.5% — based on data taken from 18,268 houses, 19,765 women and 2,881 men.
UP has shown a decreasing trend, from 31.5% to 28.2% among boys, and from 53.7% to 52.9% among girls.