Bhopal, March 8 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government Monday admitted in the state assembly that on an average 30,000 children die of various diseases in the state every year.

Replying to a question from Congress legislator Mahendra Singh Kalukheba, Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Anoop Mishra said that out of these 30,000, 60 percent are malnourished children who are more prone to infections that cause diseases like malaria, pneumonia and measles.

According to the minister, while 29,274 children died in the state during the year 2008-09, in 2007-08 the figure stood at 30,397. Similarly, the number of children who died was 32,188 and 30,563 in 2006-07 and 2005-06 respectively.

The minister said the main reasons leading to malnutrition in a child were early pregnancy, premature birth of a child, low weight at birth, poor feeding, discontinuity of breast feeding before six months. These need to be curbed and the government was making efforts towards the same, he said.

Mishra said that the government was running 200 nutritional rehabilitation centres to cater to the requirements of malnourished children and plans to open another 25 in the next financial year.