Every year 45,000 children lose their lives due to malnutrition in Maharashtra state. Out of these, 12,000 fall prey to severe malnutrition and the remaining 33,000 children die due to mild or moderate malnutrition. The malnutrition is also the underlying cause in about 480 of the 2,850 maternal deaths each year in the state.

Despite this high prevalence of malnutrition, the state government spends just 0.08% of its gross domestic product on the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the mid-day meal programme.

Maharashtra still figures among states that show a high prevalence of malnutrition and it is the slum areas in urban pockets that have an increasing incidence, said a report on the nutritional crisis in Maharashtra. The report also observed that not only are half the women anaemic in the state, almost half the children under five are stunted.