Recently, the NITI Aayog released “Accelerating Progress on Nutrition In India: What Will It Take”, the third progress report of the National Nutrition Mission or Poshan Abhiyaan. Poshan Abhiyaan was launched in 2018 as the Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, aiming for malnutrition-free India by 2022.
A Brief Look at the National Nutrition Mission
This programme is supported by a National Nutrition Strategy formulated by NITI Aayog with the objective of reducing undernutrition, stunting, anemia, and low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively. The mission also strives to tackle the problem of malnutrition in a focused manner. Half of the total budget comes from the World Bank or other multilateral development banks, while the other half comes from the Centre’s budgetary support, distributed between the Centre, states, and Union Territories (UTs) without legislature in different proportions.
Prevalence of Malnutrition in India
The pressing issue of malnutrition is evident in the fact that more than a third of children under five in India suffer from stunting and wasting, and 40% of children aged one to four are anaemic. The National Family Health Survey-4 (2016) further revealed that over 50% of pregnant and non-pregnant women are anaemic.
About the Progress Report
The latest progress report examines the roll-out status, implementation challenges, and valuable data from the NFHS-4 and Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS). The previous two reports majorly focused on the mission’s preparedness and state and UT implementations.
Concerns Highlighted: Targets and Impacts of COVID-19
The report indicates that India’s goals towards reducing stunting and anaemia are conservative compared to the global targets set by the World Health Assembly (WHA). Experts also warn that the deepening poverty and hunger caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may further delay achieving the goals defined under the Mission.
Suggestions for Improvement
The report suggests numerous ways to work towards these nutritional goals, including improving feeding practices and sanitary facilities, investing in girls’ and women’s education and care, and developing strategies for integrated management of wasting. It also emphasizes the importance of focusing on health sector interventions to achieve improvements in anaemia among women of reproductive age.
A Way Forward: The Need for a POSHAN-plus Strategy
For the National Nutrition Mission to maintain its significant role in India’s fight against malnutrition, it will be crucial to accelerate actions on multiple fronts. The mission’s projections are optimistic but will need to be re-evaluated to consider the COVID-19 disruptions to health and nutrition services. A POSHAN-plus strategy is suggested, emphasizing the need to focus on other social determinants and addressing the governance challenges of the National Health Mission (NHM) and ICDS delivery mechanisms.