Skip to content
Hunger · India

Child malnutrition in Karnataka

35%of children under five stunted (NFHS-5, 2019-21)Very high

Karnataka ranks 8th of 36 states and union territories for child stunting, highest first; India's figure is 36%. In towns it is 32%, in villages 37%.

20%children under 5 wasted
33%children under 5 underweight
66%children 6-59 months anaemic
13%children 6-23 months with an adequate diet

Karnataka in NFHS-5, town and village

MeasureKarnatakaUrbanRuralNFHS-4India
Children under 5 stunted (too short for age)35.4%32.2%37.2%36.2%35.5%
Children under 5 wasted (too thin for height)19.5%18.5%20.1%26.1%19.3%
Children under 5 severely wasted8.4%8.6%8.3%10.5%7.7%
Children under 5 underweight32.9%29.4%34.9%35.2%32.1%
Children under 5 overweight3.2%3.8%2.9%2.6%3.4%
Children 6-59 months anaemic65.5%62.8%67.1%60.9%67.1%
Women 15-49 anaemic47.8%43.9%50.3%44.8%57%
Women 15-49 underweight (BMI under 18.5)17.2%12.9%19.9%20.7%18.7%
Children 6-23 months with an adequate diet12.8%11.4%13.7%8.2%11.3%
Babies under 6 months only breastfed61%56.7%63%54.2%63.7%

Child stunting by district in Karnataka

Children under five too short for their age, NFHS-5 district factsheets (2019-21).

  1. 1Yadgir58%
  2. 2Koppal49%
  3. 3Bagalkot48%
  4. 4Bijapur46%
  5. 5Dharwad45%
  6. 6Gadag45%
  7. 7Tumkur40%
  8. 8Raichur40%
  9. 9Davanagere38%
  10. 10Bidar37%
  11. 11Bangalore Rural37%
  12. 12Bellary36%
  13. 13Chitradurga36%
  14. 14Gulbarga35%
  15. 15Belgaum33%
  16. 16Chamarajanagar32%
  17. 17Bangalore31%
  18. 18Chikkaballapura31%
  19. 19Kolar31%
  20. 20Kodagu30%
  21. 21Haveri30%
  22. 22Uttara Kannada30%
  23. 23Shimoga29%
  24. 24Mysore28%
  25. 25Chikmagalur27%
  26. 26Hassan27%
  27. 27Dakshina Kannada25%
  28. 28Mandya24%
  29. 29Udupi23%
  30. 30Ramanagara16%

Frequently asked questions

What is the malnutrition rate in Karnataka?

In NFHS-5 (2019-21), 35% of children under five in Karnataka were stunted, 20% wasted and 33% underweight, against 36%, 19% and 32% for India.

Is malnutrition falling in Karnataka?

Stunting fell from 36% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 35% in NFHS-5 (2019-21), 0.8 points.

Which district of Karnataka has the most malnutrition?

Yadgir had the highest share of stunted children in NFHS-5, 58%, and Ramanagara the lowest, 16%.

How many children are anaemic in Karnataka?

66% of children aged 6 to 59 months in Karnataka were anaemic in NFHS-5, which WHO counts as a severe public health problem. So were 48% of women aged 15 to 49.

Source: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-21, IIPS and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; districts from NFHS-5 district factsheets, tabulated by pratapvardhan/NFHS-5 (CC BY 4.0).

Malnutrition in other states