When the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Nashik, had to identify malnourished babies between 1 and 5 years of age in Maharashtra, it came up with a simple ‘red and yellow bangle test’.The test is simple, explained Dr Mrudula Phadke, Vice Chancellor, MUHS, who devised the method. This test is based on the assumption that the mid-arm circumference of children in this age group does not change. For this, the researchers used red bangles that have a radius of 3.7 cm and yellow with a radius of 4. First the yellow bangle would be slipped in. If it easily fits in the region between the elbow and shoulder of an arm, the child would be adjudged ‘moderately malnourished’. Then, the red bangle. If that fitted too, it meant that the child was severely malnourished and required hospitalisation. And finally if both bangles did not fit, then the babies were in “good health”.A total of 21 districts and 3,18,579 children in the backward and tribal regions of Maharashtra were surveyed, of which 50,320 babies were malnourished. That’s a malnourishment rate of 15.80 per cent. Enthused with this simple test, the MUHS soon gathered 3,965 volunteers working in 103 affiliated colleges in the state. A vigilance squad was also appointed to monitor the survey. Key Findings• According to the MUHS survey, the percentage of moderately malnourished children is 12.75 per cent—out of which 7.15 per cent were boys and 7.72 per cent are girls.• More than 20 per cent children in the slums of Mumbai and Thane are malnourished. Dharavi slum registered the highest percentage of 5.5 per cent for severe malnutrition.• The districts of Sindhudurg, Beed, Buldhana, Wardha and Gondia had relatively healthier children—less than 5 per cent children here were malnourished.
