Lok Sabha Question No. 2987 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-12
Subject: Malnutrition among Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Unmesh Bhaiyyasaheb Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2987

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.03.2021

## MALNUTRITION AMONG WOMEN

2987.   DR. HEENA GAVIT: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: SHRI UNMESH BHAIYYASAHEB PATIL:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the incidence of malnutrition among women is higher as compared to men and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether  the  incidence  of  malnourishment  among  children  is  largely  under  reported  in many parts of the country and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the faulty methods employed to diagnose malnutrition has led to poor detection of cases of malnutrition and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the details of efforts made by the Government to reduce malnutrition among women and children in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)       As per the report of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) - 4 conducted by Ministry of Health  and  Family  Welfare  in 2015-16,  prevalence  of  undernutrition  among  women  is  22.9% whereas among men it is 20.2%.

Under-nutrition is a complex and multi-dimensional issue, affected mainly by a number of generic  factors  including  poverty,  inadequate  food  consumption  due  to  access  and  availability issues,  inequitable  food  distribution,  improper  maternal  infant  and  child  feeding  and  care practices,  inequity  and  gender  imbalances,  poor  sanitary  and  environmental  conditions;  and restricted access to quality health, education and social care services.

(b)  &  (c) Data  on  nutritional  indicators  is  captured  under  the  National  Family  Health  Surveys conducted periodically and CNNS (2016-18) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) being the nodal agency for conducting the surveys using a standardized methodology.

(d)        Government  implements  Anganwadi  Services,  Pradhan  Mantri  Matru  Vandana  Yojana and  Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls  under  the  Umbrella  Integrated  Child  Development  Services Scheme (ICDS) as targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country.

Government has taken measures 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 also been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing, strengthen delivery and leverage technology to improve governance. Government has advised States/UTs  to  ensure  that  the  quality  of  supplementary  nutrition  conforms  to  prescribed standards  laid  down  under  the  Food  Safety  and  Standards  Act,  2006  and  regulations  made thereunder. States/UTs have also been advised to promote use of AYUSH systems for prevention  of  malnutrition  and  related  diseases.  A  programme  to support  development  of Poshan  Vatikas  at  Anganwadi  centers  to  meet  dietary  diversity  gap  leveraging  traditional knowledge in nutritional practices has also been taken up.

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