Bangladesh ahead of India in nutrition monitoring

Bangladesh performed better in conducting regular surveys on the nutritional status of respective population compared to India, reports the Times of India.

India had the survey done about ten years ago – during which time Bangladesh completed two such surveys with the latest one carried out three years ago, the report says.

The last survey completed in Bangladesh had Sylhet division with the highest rate of children suffering malnutrition and stunted growth and followed by Chittagong.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and World Food Programme (WFP) prepared the 2012 “Undernutrition Maps of Bangladesh 2012”.

Over two decades, close to 300 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) have been carried out in more than 100 countries with the support of Unicef for generating data on key indicators on the well-being of children and women, and helping shape policies.

This year the MICS programme completes 20 years of operation and five rounds of surveys. Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal are part of the MICS surveys.

"Standard gap for carrying out such surveys is three to five years to enable taking stock and to do mid-course correction," said a public health expert.