Measures to Address Malnutrition

Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is making serious efforts to address this issue. POSHAN Abhiyaan, a flagship scheme of the Government was launched in 2018 to address the malaise of malnutrition by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. Further, to address various policy and systemic needs, the Integrated Child Development Scheme and Anganwadi Services schemes were re-evaluated in respect of programme design, implementation process, outcome and impact and for re-assessing the relevance of the programme in achieving its aims and goals. The efforts under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme under Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and POSHAN Abhiyaan have been re-aligned as 'Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0' for maximizing nutritional outcomes. It seeks to address the challenges of malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers through a strategic shift in nutrition content and delivery and by creation of a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity.

POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in the country by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. The targets laid down under the Abhiyaan are as under:

The estimated number of underweight, malnourished and severely malnourished children under 5 years of age is obtained under National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. As per the recent report of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years have improved as compared with NFHS-4 (2015-16). Stunting has reduced from 38.4% to 35.5%, Wasting has reduced from 21.0% to 19.3% and Underweight prevalence has reduced from 35.8% to 32.1%. Further percentage of women (15-49 years) whose BMI is below normal has reduced from 22.9 in NFHS-4 to 18.7 in NFHS-5. The State/UT wise prevalence of malnutrition among children under five years of age, and women (age 15-49 yrs) as per NFHS-5, 2019-21 is at Annexure I and Annexure-II respectively.

The efforts under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme under Anganwadi Services and POSHAN Abhiyaan have been rejuvenated and converged as 'Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0' (Mission Poshan 2.0). It seeks to address the challenges of malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers through a strategic shift in nutrition content and delivery and by creation of a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity.

Poshan 2.0 shall focus on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, Treatment of MAM/SAM and Wellness through AYUSH. It will rest on the pillars of Convergence, Governance, and Capacity-building. Poshan Abhiyan will be the key pillar for Outreach and will cover innovations related to nutritional support, ICT interventions, Media Advocacy and Research, Community Outreach and Jan Andolan.

Under Poshan 2.0, focus is on diet diversity, food fortification, leveraging traditional systems of knowledge and popularizing use of millets. Nutrition awareness strategies under Poshan 2.0 aim to develop sustainable health and well-being through regional meal plans to bridge dietary gaps. Strategy of Jan Andolan, was developed to strengthen convergent actions across multiple stakeholders with focus on exclusive breast-feeding, complimentary feeding, growth monitoring, prevention of diarrhoea, hygiene, water and sanitation, anemia prevention, importance of Poshan Vatikas for cultivation of local vegetables, medicinal plants/herbs and fruits at the community level, etc. Poshan Abhiyaan has provided a strong platform for targeted home visits, community-based events (CBEs) and growth monitoring with greater emphasis placed on home visits to promote maternal, infant and young child nutrition practices. More than 40 crore activities have been carried out under Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada and 3.70 lakh CBEs have been conducted since the launch of the Abhiyaan. Best practices have been disseminated through zonal work-shops to address the challenges of malnutrition.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Annexure-I

States/UTs-wise nutritional status of children, NFHS-5, 2019-21

Source: NFHS-5 National reports

Note:

¹Below -2 standard deviations, based on the WHO standard

² Below +2 standard deviations, based on the WHO standard

Annexure-II

As per NFHS-5 (2019-21), %tage of women (age 15-49 yrs) whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is below normal (BMI<18.5 kg/m²)

*****

BY