Paper short abstract:

Malnutrition refers to the situation where there is an unbalanced diet in which some nutrients are in excess, lacking or in wrong proportions. Since 1991, more than one third of the world mal-nourished children live in India. Among these, half of them under the age of three are undernourished and underweight having different infectious diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis which leads to higher mortality rate.

Paper long abstract:

Recognizing the importance of health of women and children and to reduce infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality rate (MMR), Government of India has lunched NRHM programme with an objective to promote qualitative health services for both the vulnerable and underprivileged group. The present study makes an attempt against the backdrop to critically examine the role of NRHM in rural areas of Western Odisha of 0-3 age group children and its accountability for promotion of healthy life style among the poor socio-economic group. A total number of 150 children from different villages of Bargarh district covered under NRHM programme were selected as the sample for this study. Data for the present study were collected from the parents of the sample children, NRHM officials and workers. Our analysis on this study includes aspect such as region, religion, caste, living areas of the mother etc. Findings of the present study reveals that the malnutrition during pregnancy lead to child mal-nutrition as well as increases the risk of future diseases, physical retardation and reduced cognitive abilities.