India has long been addressing the challenge of undernutrition, particularly through its Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program, operational since 1975. Despite progress between 2005 and 2019, with stunting among children under five decreasing from 48% to 35.5%, and underweight children from 42.5% to 32.1%, undernutrition remains a significant issue.
In response, the Ministry of Women and Child Development launched the National Nutrition Mission - Poshan Abhiyaan in 2018, emphasizing the first 1,000 days of a child's life. This period was previously overlooked but is now recognized as crucial for child development.
The initiative involves approximately 1.4 million Anganwadi Workers (AWW), who reach over 80 million beneficiaries across India’s states and union territories. A nationwide movement called Jan Andolan was also launched to prioritize nutrition issues, designating September as National Nutrition Month (Poshan Mah) and March as Nutrition Fortnight (Poshan Pakhwada). Additionally, a large-scale technology platform helps monitor the nutritional status of women and children.
Ajay Banga 14th President of the World Bank Group
| Official Website
From 2018 to 2022, the World Bank supported Poshan Abhiyaan with financial and technical assistance, focusing on eleven states with high levels of stunting among children and anemia among women: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
The program adopted a three-pronged approach:
1. **Reaching Communities with Nutrition Messages**: Communication materials about proper nutrition were disseminated through various platforms involving multiple ministries. These messages were used by Anganwadi Workers during home visits and community events to counsel pregnant women and mothers.
2. **Deploying Mobile Application**: The Poshan Tracker mobile application helped workers prioritize home visits during a child's first 1,000 days and monitor services delivered.
3. **Building Knowledge of Frontline Workers**: The Incremental Learning Approach (ILA) provided training modules in regional languages for easy understanding by frontline workers.
Results from surveys conducted by the World Bank in eleven focus states showed positive outcomes:
- Core nutrition messages reached more than 80% of women.
- Exclusive breastfeeding for six months was practiced by 81% of women covered by the program.
- Other beneficial practices like consumption of iron supplements were observed in over half of the beneficiaries.
- Significant reductions in child stunting (from an average of 41% to 37%) and wasting (from an average of 22% to 20%) were recorded.
- Women's undernutrition decreased significantly from an average of 24.5% to 20.3%.
- Exclusive breastfeeding increased from an average of 54.1% to nearly two-thirds at around64.6%.
- Counseling after child weighing rose substantially across all states surveyed.
Given these advancements,the Government has mainstreamed this approach into Poshan Abhiyaan's second phase - Poshan2.0.Further efforts will require sustained political commitment,focusing on high-impact interventions,and providing comprehensive services through sector convergence including health education agriculture water sanitation rural development,and social protection.Tools for monitoring such convergence will also be essential moving forward.