GROWTH OF KIDS IN HOSTILE AREAS STUNTED: STUDY

SRINAGAR: A US-based survey has painted a grim picture of children born and brought up in hostile and violent atmosphere in Kashmir.

SRINAGAR: A US-based survey has painted a grim picture of children born and brought up in hostile and violent atmosphere in Kashmir as “they are showing stunted growth, poor performance in schools and jobs, and poor health conditions.”

“The exposure to violence early in life has adverse impacts on children’s age-adjusted height. Children living in urban areas of Kashmir, excluding Srinagar, are affected the most by the experience of violence. These children are up to 2.5 standard deviations shorter because of the insurgency,” says the report titled ‘Armed Conflict and Children’s Health - The case of Kashmir’ published by Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, US.

The study prepared in 2012 observes that the effect is stronger among children who were born during peaks in violence. “Shorter children perform worse in schools, in jobs, and are sicker throughout their life...Children in J&K are shorter on the aver- age and close to being stunted,” warns the report.

The report takes National Family Health Survey (NFHS) for India, a national and representative household survey, to analyse the effects of the Kashmir insurgency on children’s height. The survey has divided children born in three militant phases in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Children in Kashmir are shorter compared to children in Jammu because of the insurgency. They are up to 1.5 standard deviations shorter,” it pointed out.