Lok Sabha Question No. 4961 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-31
Subject: Malnutrition
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Prataprao Govindrao  Patil Chikhalikar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4961

TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.03.2023

## MALNUTRITION

## 4961. SHRI PRATAPRAO PATIL CHIKHLIKAR:

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

- (a) whether  the  population  of  women,  children,  infants,  elderly  persons,  etc., suffering from various types of malnutrition, is more than the national average in nine States as per the NFHS-5 (2019-21) report, if so, the details thereof and the remedial steps being taken by the Government in this direction;
- (b) whether the amount allocated by the Government under Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is exclusively for child nutrition;
- (c) the alternative measures being taken by the Government for providing holistic nutrition to all the undernourished persons;
- (d) whether any suggestions have been sent to the concerned department in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether any measures have been taken/are being taken by the Government to address the said problems and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e) As per the findings of the NFHS-5, the malnutrition related data is generated for  men  (15-49  years),  women  (15-49  years),  and  Children  under  5  years  of  age. However, the malnutrition data for infants and elderly persons is not provided in NFHS. The details of the States/UTs with prevalence of malnutrition levels among children, women and men higher than the national average are annexed .

The  Government  has  accorded  high  priority  to  the  issue  of  malnutrition  and  is implementing  several  schemes  like  POSHAN  Abhiyaan,  Anganwadi  Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. POSHAN Abhiyaan launched on 8th March 2018, aims to achieve improvement in nutritional  status  of  Adolescent  Girls,  Pregnant  Women  and  Lactating  Mothers  by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. The Abhiyaan has been rolled out across 36 States/UTs.

Further, the efforts under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme under Anganwadi Services and POSHAN Abhiyaan have been rejuvenated and converged as 'Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0' (Mission Poshan 2.0) to address the  challenges of malnutrition  in  children,  adolescent  girls,  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers through  a  strategic  shift  in  nutrition  content  and  delivery  and  by  creation  of  a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity.

Under  'Saksham  Anganwadi  &  Poshan  2.0',  funds  are  allocated  for  (i)  Nutrition Support for  Children  upto  the  age  of  6  years,  Adolescent  Girls  (14-18  years)  and Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (ii) Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6 years] (iii) Anganwadi Infrastructure including modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadis and (iv) Poshan Abhiyan.

Poshan 2.0 focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, Treatment  of  MAM/SAM  and  Wellness  through  AYUSH.  It  rests  on  the  pillars  of Convergence,  Governance,  and  Capacity-building.  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  is  the  key pillar  for  Outreach  and  will  cover  innovations  related  to  nutritional  support,  ICT interventions, Media Advocacy and Research, Community Outreach and Jan Andolan. Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen delivery and leverage technology under the 'Poshan Tracker', a robust ICT enabled  platform  to  improve  governance  with  regard  to  real  time  monitoring  of provisioning of supplementary nutrition for prompt supervision and management of services.

Under Poshan 2.0, focus is on diet diversity, food fortification, leveraging traditional systems of knowledge and popularizing use of millets. Nutrition awareness strategies under Poshan 2.0 aim to develop sustainable health and well-being through regional meal plans to bridge dietary gaps. Further, greater emphasis is being given on the use of millets for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take Home rations (not raw ration) at Anganwadi centres for Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Children below 6 years of age, as millets have high nutrient content which includes protein, essential fatty acid, dietary fibre, B-Vitamins, minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, folic acid and other micro-nutrients thus helping to tackle anemia  and  other micro-nutrient deficiencies in women and children. Further, to address the challenge of malnutrition arising  due  to  micro-nutrient  deficiency,  only  fortified  rice  is  being  allocated  to States/UTs.

Convergence with Line Ministries and Departments is a key plank of the programme. At  the  State  level,  State  Level  Steering  Committees  seek  to  ensure  effective convergence  between  various  schemes/programs  having  bearing  on  nutrition  and review the progress made regarding nutritionaI indicators. Further, at the District level, District Nutrition Committees chaired by District Magistrates have representation from across line departments such as Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, Health, Social forestry, District Ayush in-charge etc to monitor nutritional indicators.

******

## Annexure

| Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   | Statement referred to in reply of the part (a) of Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 4961 regarding Malnutrition due for answer on 31.03.2023   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                                                                                                         | State/UTs                                                                                                                                      | Children under 5 years who are stunted (height-for- age) (%)                                                                                   | State/UTs                                                                                                                                      | Children under 5 years who are wasted (weight- for-height) (%)                                                                                 | State/UTs                                                                                                                                      | Children under 5 years who are underweight (weight-for- age) (%)                                                                               | State/ UTs                                                                                                                                     | Women whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is below normal (BMI <18.5 kg/m2) (%)                                                                        | State/ UTs                                                                                                                                     | Men whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is below normal (BMI <18.5 kg/m2) (%)                                                                          |
| 1.                                                                                                                                             | Meghalaya                                                                                                                                      | 46.5                                                                                                                                           | Maharashtra                                                                                                                                    | 25.6                                                                                                                                           | Bihar                                                                                                                                          | 41                                                                                                                                             | Jharkhand                                                                                                                                      | 26.2                                                                                                                                           | Chhattisgarh                                                                                                                                   | 17.4                                                                                                                                           |
| 2.                                                                                                                                             | Bihar                                                                                                                                          | 42.9                                                                                                                                           | Gujarat                                                                                                                                        | 25.1                                                                                                                                           | Gujarat                                                                                                                                        | 39.7                                                                                                                                           | Bihar                                                                                                                                          | 25.6                                                                                                                                           | MP                                                                                                                                             | 20.8                                                                                                                                           |
| 3.                                                                                                                                             | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                                                                  | 39.7                                                                                                                                           | Bihar                                                                                                                                          | 22.9                                                                                                                                           | Jharkhand                                                                                                                                      | 39.4                                                                                                                                           | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu                                                                                                           | 25.1                                                                                                                                           | UP                                                                                                                                             | 18                                                                                                                                             |
| 4.                                                                                                                                             | Jharkhand                                                                                                                                      | 39.6                                                                                                                                           | Jharkhand                                                                                                                                      | 22.4                                                                                                                                           | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu                                                                                                           | 38.7                                                                                                                                           | Gujarat                                                                                                                                        | 25.1                                                                                                                                           | Bihar                                                                                                                                          | 21.6                                                                                                                                           |
| 5.                                                                                                                                             | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu                                                                                                           | 39.4                                                                                                                                           | Assam                                                                                                                                          | 21.7                                                                                                                                           | Maharashtra                                                                                                                                    | 36.1                                                                                                                                           | Chhattisgarh                                                                                                                                   | 23.1                                                                                                                                           | Jharkhand                                                                                                                                      | 17.1                                                                                                                                           |
| 6.                                                                                                                                             | Gujarat                                                                                                                                        | 39                                                                                                                                             | Telangana                                                                                                                                      | 21.7                                                                                                                                           | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                                                                 | 33                                                                                                                                             | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                                                                 | 23                                                                                                                                             | D&NH & Daman & Diu                                                                                                                             | 18.2                                                                                                                                           |
| 7.                                                                                                                                             | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                                                                 | 35.7                                                                                                                                           | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu                                                                                                           | 21.6                                                                                                                                           | Karnataka                                                                                                                                      | 32.9                                                                                                                                           | Maharashtra                                                                                                                                    | 20.8                                                                                                                                           | Gujarat                                                                                                                                        | 20.9                                                                                                                                           |
| 8.                                                                                                                                             | INDIA                                                                                                                                          | 35.5                                                                                                                                           | West Bengal                                                                                                                                    | 20.3                                                                                                                                           | Assam                                                                                                                                          | 32.8                                                                                                                                           | Odisha                                                                                                                                         | 20.8                                                                                                                                           | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                                                                 | 16.5                                                                                                                                           |
| 9.                                                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                | Karnataka                                                                                                                                      | 19.5                                                                                                                                           | West Bengal                                                                                                                                    | 32.2                                                                                                                                           | Rajasthan                                                                                                                                      | 19.5                                                                                                                                           | Telangana                                                                                                                                      | 16.3                                                                                                                                           |
| 10.                                                                                                                                            |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                | INDIA                                                                                                                                          | 19.3                                                                                                                                           | INDIA                                                                                                                                          | 32.1                                                                                                                                           | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                                                                  | 19                                                                                                                                             | INDIA                                                                                                                                          | 16.2                                                                                                                                           |
| 11.                                                                                                                                            |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                | Telangana                                                                                                                                      | 18.8                                                                                                                                           |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |
| 12.                                                                                                                                            |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                | INDIA                                                                                                                                          | 18.7                                                                                                                                           |                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                |