Lok Sabha Question No. 3032 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-06
Subject: Malnourished Women and Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Bhagwant Mann

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3032

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2021

## MALNOURISHED WOMEN AND CHILDREN

3032.  SHRI BHAGWANT MANN:

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

- (a) the  details  regarding  the  increase  in  the  number of  malnourished  women  and children  in  the  State  of  Punjab  during  the  last  three  years  along  with  the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether  the  cases  of  malnutrition  are  not  detected due  to  faulty  methods adopted for diagnosis of malnutrition and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of the efforts made by the Government to reduce malnutrition among women and children in the State?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)          The data on malnutrition indicators among children under 5 years and women 15-49 years as reported by National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and Comprehensive National  Nutrition  Survey  (CNNS)  is  at Annexure  I .  The  recently  released  report  of NFHS-5 is available only for 22 States/UTs which does not cover the State of Punjab.
- (b)        The data on nutritional indicators is captured under the National Family Health Surveys  conducted  periodically  by  the  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare,  with International  Institute  for  Population  Sciences  (IIPS)  being  the  nodal  agency  for conducting the surveys using a standardized methodology. To ensure consistent and accurate  recording  and  reporting  of  the  critical  programme  data,  the  Ministry  has initiated  efforts  towards  quality  data  collection,  analysis  for  differential  planning  and supervision  for  improved  action  at  community  level  as  part  of  strengthening  and systems quality improvement via ICT based application, Poshan Tracker. The Poshan Tracker  is  built  on  latest  technology  for  ensuring  real-time  monitoring  and  providing real-time information relating to various parameters of service delivery and malnutrition under Mission Poshan 2.0.
- (c)         Government  implements  Anganwadi  Services  Scheme,  POSHAN  Abhiyaan, Pradhan  Mantri  Matru  Vandana  Yojana  and  Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls  under  the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS) as targeted interventions  for  children  upto  the  age  of  6  years,  Pregnant  Women  and  Lactating Mothers  and  Adolescent  Girls,  throughout  the  country.  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  aims  to reduce malnutrition in a phased manner, through a life cycle approach, by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach.

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Annexure I

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  Part  (a)  of  Lok  Sabha  Un-Starred  Question No.3032 for 06.08.2021 by SHRI BHAGWANT MANN regarding Malnurished Women and Children.

| Indicators                                |   NFHS-4 (2015-16) | NFHS-5 (2019-20)   | CNNS (2016-18)   |
|-------------------------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|------------------|
| Stunting in children under 5 years (%)    |               25.7 | -                  | 24.3             |
| Wasting in children under 5 years (%)     |               15.6 | -                  | 6.7              |
| Underweight in children under 5 years (%) |               21.6 | -                  | 19.7             |
| Underweight in women age 15-49 years (%)  |               11.7 | -                  | -                |

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