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NFHS-6 shows 31.8% children underweight, maternal care improves
30 May 2026

The sixth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) has revealed that a significant number of Indian children are still underweight.

The survey, released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, covered around 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts.

It shows improvements in maternal healthcare, child immunization, and health insurance coverage, but also highlights persistent gaps affecting millions of women and children.

Improvements in maternal healthcare
Healthcare progress

The survey shows that 95.9% of pregnant women received antenatal care, a rise from 92.6% in the last survey.

However, only 65.2% of these women had the recommended four antenatal care visits, which means over a third don't get adequate pregnancy care.

Institutional deliveries have also gone up to 90.6%, but nearly one in 10 births still happen outside health facilities.

Child undernutrition remains a major challenge
Undernutrition issue

The NFHS-6 data also highlights that although stunting among children under five has decreased from 35.5% to 29.3%, nearly three in 10 are still affected.

The prevalence of underweight children stands at 31.8%, with 5.2% suffering from severe wasting.

Breastfeeding practices also need improvement, as only half of newborns are breastfed within an hour after birth, and 40.5% of infants aged six to eight months don't receive complementary foods along with breast milk as recommended by health experts.

Full immunization coverage at 87.1%
Coverage gaps

The NFHS-6 also shows that full immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 months has gone up to 87.1%. However, nearly 13% of children remain unimmunized, with the second dose of measles-containing vaccine coverage at only 71.8%.

Health insurance coverage has also increased from 41% to 60.2% of households due to government-backed health protection initiatives. However, this still leaves almost four in 10 households without any form of health insurance coverage against catastrophic healthcare expenditures and medical debt.

Rising burden of non-communicable diseases
Health transition

The NFHS-6 also brings attention to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases and lifestyle-related health risks in India.

The country is now dealing with undernutrition alongside rising overweight and obesity levels among adults.

According to public health experts cited by The Indian Express, this transition needs more focus on preventive healthcare, healthier diets, and behavior-change interventions.