India is home to 51.9 million stunted children — those whose height-for-age falls more than two standard deviations below the WHO median, indicating chronic undernutrition. This is 35% of the global burden of 148 million stunted children, despite India accounting for 18% of the global population. New NFHS-6 baseline data for 12 high-burden states, released in March 2026, shows that while acute wasting has improved, stunting in Bihar (42.9%), UP (41.3%) and Jharkhand (39.4%) has declined by less than 2 percentage points since NFHS-5 in 2019–21.
Child Malnutrition in India — NFHS-6 Highlights
- National stunting rate: 35.5% (NFHS-5: 35.5% — virtually unchanged)
- Bihar: 42.9% children stunted; Jharkhand: 39.4%; UP: 41.3%
- Wasting (acute): improved to 18.7% nationally from 19.3%
- India: 35% of global stunted children; 18% of world population
- POSHAN Abhiyan budget 2025–26: ₹2,700 crore — used ₹1,880 crore (69%)
- Anaemia in children 6–59 months: 67.1% (NFHS-5: 67.1% — no change)
“Stunting is not a nutrition programme failure alone — it is a failure of water and sanitation, of maternal nutrition, of breastfeeding support, of poverty reduction. You cannot solve it with Anganwadi meals alone.”
— Dr. Vibha Krishnamurthy, Director, SNEHA — Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action
51.9M
Stunted children in India
35%
India's share globally
42.9%
Bihar stunting rate
67.1%
Child anaemia rate (unchanged)
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Sunita Verma
Health & Policy Reporter
Sunita covers public health policy, hospitals and government health schemes from New Delhi.