india

Updated: Jul 03, 2019 15:35 IST

Lying on a bed at Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), Government Hospital in Varanasi, 10-month-old acutely malnourished twins Aradhana and Sadhna are undergoing treatment. The weight of each girl is half the normal weight.

However, the twins are not the only acutely malnourished children in the district. The total number of such children in the district is 3,998. The city area of the district has the most number of such children: Varanasi has 1,453, Kashi Vidaypeeth Block763, Pindara-448, Chiraigaon-445, Harhua-304, Badagaon-15, Sevapuri-104, and Cholapur-69, sources in the office of district programme officer said.

The twins were discovered on June 28 when a Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) team, led by nodal officer Abdul Javed, reached Gosaipur Mahao village. They had received information about two acutely malnourished children in the hamlet, situated around 20 kilometres from the district headquarters.

Dr Javed said that the twins’ father, Dinesh, is a daily-wage labourer and works at a construction site, while their mother, Urmila, is a housewife.

Dr Javed recalls that when he reached the house of the twins and asked their mother what she gave them daily, she revealed that she gave the girls boiled sabudana (sago) soup daily, and sometimes ate the same.

He was shocked to know the state of their poverty. Immediately, the twins, along with their mother, were rushed to the NRC.

“The normal weight of a 10-month baby should be around 6.7 kg. But the weight of Aradhana and Sadhna was found 3.1 kg and 3.6 kg, respectively. The weight is almost half the normal weight of a 10-month-old baby,” Dr Javed said. “The twins were given nutrients and milk, while their mother was given food at the NRC. Their diet is being monitored by a doctor, dietician and a nurse at the NRC,” he said.

The NRC team’s efforts have yielded positive results. Within four days, the twins have started recovering. Their weight has also increased slightly. Now, Aradhana weighs and 3.495 kg and Sadhna weighs 3.735 kg.

NRC medical officer Dr Saurabh Singh said on Tuesday that the twins will remain at the NRC for about a fortnight and after their weight increases, they will be discharged.

Dr Javed said that he has asked the Anganwadi worker of Gosaipur village to provide nutrition supplements daily from the centre when they are discharged from the NRC. Around 200 gram dalia or nutritious food is provided to children of financially weak sections from the Anganwani centre at the village.