Chennai: ‘Women and children together make up 69 per cent of India’s population – a total of 833 million (Census 2011).
Yet as the findings of the latest round of the National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS-5) show, 35 per cent of young children in India are still stunted. A considerable number of adolescent girls and pregnant women suffer from poor nutrition. While there has been steady progress on the reduction of malnutrition in the country, it is clear that much more needs to be done,’ said Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Principal Secretary (Karnataka) Uma Mahadevan.
‘A comprehensive effort to reduce malnutrition requires a life cycle approach. At the centre of such an approach should be India’s anganwadi network, which has grown to nearly 1.4 million centres over four decades. The ICDS system across the country can gear up to provide essential supplementary nutrition as well as nutrition education to mothers, adolescent girls, and children, thereby ensuring better outcomes for all. This is the powerful vision of Poshan 2.0,’ she said in an article.
According to Uma, the cycle of undernutrition starts before birth. It is deeply enmeshed in complex social problems such as child marriage, low nutritional status among adolescent girls, and low levels of education among women. Therefore, as a critical first step to break the inter-generational cycle of malnutrition, India must adopt the ‘first 1000 days approach’. This means ensuring two things: that pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers get adequate nutrition, support, and care, with dietary diversity; and that the critical stages of breastfeeding and complementary feeding get the attention they deserve.
She said every child must be screened regularly to monitor growth and nutritional status. Young children who are identified with growth faltering must immediately be given the attention and care they require to bring their development back on track.
‘The success of this mission rests on four pillars: capacity-building of staff, especially frontline functionaries; multisectoral convergence; community outreach; and governance, including transparency, accountability, and effective monitoring for outcomes.’