Protecting the health of children by reducing the levels of malnutrition remains one of the priority areas for the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Efforts at the national level have led to significant improvement in the overall health of children in the country, with key nutrition indicators showing satisfactory growth.
The status of malnutrition in the country amongst children under five years of age is provided by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted periodically by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW). The latest report of NFHS-5 (2019-21) shows improvement in key nutrition indicators as compared to NFHS-4 (2015-16). Among under-five children, stunting has reduced from 38.4% to 35.5%, while wasting (progressive weakening of the body) has come down from 21.0% to 19.3% and the phenomenon of underweight children has been reduced from 35.8% to 32.1%.
Having accorded top priority to eradicating malnutrition, the government at the Centre is implementing several schemes through different ministries, departments, states and union territories to address various aspects related to nutrition. Some of the key schemes aimed at addressing the issue of malnutrition are POSHAN Abhiyaan, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Anganwadi Services Scheme and Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS). Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition are treated at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres set up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Launched on March 8, 2018, POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in the country in a phased manner by adopting a synergised and result-oriented approach. The Abhiyaan is being implemented throughout the country with clear goals such as improving the nutritional status among children up to six years, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers in a time-bound manner with fixed targets.
Mission Poshan 2.0, an integrated nutrition support programme, was announced in budget 2021-2022 for all states and union territories. It seeks to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition. Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality, strengthen delivery and leverage technology to improve governance under Poshan Tracker, a robust ICT platform.
The Centre has advised all states and Union Territories to ensure that the quality of supplementary nutrition conforms to prescribed standards and regulations laid down under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The states and UTs have also been advised to promote use of AYUSH systems for prevention of malnutrition and related diseases. A programme to support the development of Poshan Vatikas at Anganwadi centres, to meet dietary diversity gap by leveraging traditional knowledge in nutritional practices, has also been taken up.
Comment here