Lok Sabha Question No. 3275 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-05
Subject: Malnutrition among Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Poonam (Mahajan) Vajendla Rao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3275

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2022

## 'MALNUTRITION AMONG WOMEN'

## 3275   SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN:

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  underreported  in  many  parts  of  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the reasons therefor; and
- (c)      the  details  of  efforts  made  by  the  Government  to  reduce  malnutrition  among women and children in the country?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Malnutrition  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,  improper  maternal  infant  and  child  feeding  and  care practices, inequity and gender imbalances, poor sanitary and environmental conditions etc

As  per  the  recently  released  report  of  the  National  Family  Health  Survey  5 (NFHS 5, 2019-21) the incidence of malnutrition among women when compared with NFHS  4  (2015-16)  data  indicates  an  improvement  of  4.2  percentage  points  in  the malnutrition  rate  among  women  as  compared  to  men  where  a  4  percentage  point change is observed. The details are tabulated below:

| Women aged 15-49 years with Body Mass Index (BMI) below normal (BMI <18.5 kg/m2)   | Women aged 15-49 years with Body Mass Index (BMI) below normal (BMI <18.5 kg/m2)   | Men aged 15-49 years with Body Mass Index (BMI) below normal (BMI <18.5 kg/m2)   | Men aged 15-49 years with Body Mass Index (BMI) below normal (BMI <18.5 kg/m2)   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| NHFS 4 (2015-16)                                                                   | NHFS 5 (2019-21)                                                                   | NHFS 4 (2015-16)                                                                 | NHFS 5 (2019-21)                                                                 |
| 22.9                                                                               | 18.7                                                                               | 20.2                                                                             | 16.2                                                                             |

(b)   The  estimated  number of underweight,  malnourished  and  severely  malnourished children under 5 years of age is obtained under National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted  by  the  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare.  As  per  the  recent  report  of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years have improved as compared with NFHS-4 (2015-16). Stunting has reduced from 38.4% to 35.5%, Wasting has  reduced  from  21.0%  to  19.3%  and  Underweight  prevalence  has  reduced  from 35.8%  to  32.1%. Further,  Under  Poshan  Abhiyan  ,'Poshan  Tracker'  application  was rolled  out  on  1 st March  2021,  as  an  important  governance  tool.  Technology  under Poshan  Tracker  is  being  leveraged  for  dynamic  identification  of  stunting,  wasting, under-weight prevalence among children across the country.

(c)      POSHAN  Abhiyaan  was  launched  on  8 th March  2018  with  an  aim  to  achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children under 6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. POSHAN Abhiyaan addresses malnutrition issues across the nation through components like ICT Application, Convergence, Community Mobilization,  Behavioural  Change  &  Jan  Andolan,  Capacity  Building,  Incentives  and Awards, and Innovations. The Abhiyaan has been rolled out in all the 36 States/UTs covering all Districts across the country. The five key components critical for health and well-being  or  'Poshan  ke  Paanch  Sutra'  are  communicated  under  the  Abhiyan.  The messaging focuses on the importance of the first 1,000 days of a child, referred to as the  'window  of  opportunity',  importance  of  diarrhoea  management,  locally-available nutritious food, sanitation and hygiene and anaemia prevention.

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'.  It  seeks  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. The  Anganwadi  Services, Scheme  for  Adolescent Girls  and  Poshan Abhiyaan  have  been  re-aligned  under  'Saksham  Anganwadi  and  POSHAN  2.0' for maximizing nutritional outcomes.

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