Lok Sabha Question No. 2889 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-17
Subject: Awareness on Malnutrition
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Sunil Baburao Mendhe, Girish Chandra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2889

TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2023

## AWARENESS ON MALNUTRITION

## 2889.   SHRI SUNIL BABURAO MENDHE: SHRI GIRISH CHANDRA:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- a. the manner in which women are being made aware and educated on malnutrition in the rural parts of the country; and
- b. the manner in which education is being spread and knowledge is being imparted on malnutrition to the villagers especially in rural and tribal districts of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh?

## ANSWER

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

(a) Government  has  accorded  high  priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing  several  schemes/programmes  of  different  Ministries/Departments  through States/UTs to address various aspects related to nutrition. POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on  8 th March  2018  throughout  the  country,  including  the  rural  and  tribal  areas,  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. A novel feature of POSHAN Abhiyaan has been its focus on social and behavioural  change  communication  (SBCC)  thus  paving  way  for  a  mass  movement  to promote transformative change, referred to as Jan Andolan. An important focus has therefore been on ' Behaviour Change Communication ' or BCC  to address inadequate and inappropriate infant and young child feeding practices, nutrition and care during pregnancy and adolescence.

Under  Poshan  Abhiyaan,  Community  Based  Events  or  CBEs  have  served  as  a  significant strategy in changing nutrition practices. CBEs help to celebrate critical milestones in the life of pregnant women and children below two years of age. The gatherings serve as a platform for disseminating essential messages and to counsel pregnant and lactating women, and their husbands/mothers-in-law  on  appropriate  nutrition  and  health  behaviour.  The  events  are organised every month at Anganwadi centres (AWC) and primarily focus on promotion of maternal  nutrition  (Godh  bharai)  and/  or  initiation  of  appropriate  complementary  feeding (Annaprasan).

At the national level,  the  Rashtriya  Poshan  Maah is  celebrated in  the  month  of  September across  the  country,  while  Poshan  Pakhwada  is  celebrated  in  the  month  of  March.  Themes have included overall nutrition, hygiene, water and sanitation, anemia prevention, importance of  breastfeeding,  growth  monitoring,  role  of  Poshan  Panchayats,  AYUSH  for  wellbeing, Yoga for Health, importance of Poshan Vatikas for cultivation of local vegetables, medicinal plants/herbs and fruits at the community level, Poshan ke Paanch Sutra , cycle rallies, defeat diarrhoea campaigns, Nukkad Natak/Folk Shows, Self Help Group meetings, etc. In the last Poshan  Maah  2022,  the  focus  was  especially  on  triggering  Gram  Panchayats  to  serve  as platforms for dissemination and awareness generation on nutrition and good health.

- (b)         In  the State of Uttar Pradesh, following initiatives have been taken in the rural and tribal areas to spread awareness on the issues related to malnutrition:
- i. Community based Events (CBEs) like Annaprashan , Godh bharai, Suposhan diwas, WASH Day are organised to create awareness on nutrition to children and women.
- ii. Health and Nutrition Education sessions are organized at AWCs to create nutrition related awareness among community and bring about improvement in the nutritional status of women and children.
- iii. Mothers Group Meetings are held at AWCs every month with participation of mothers of children attending the AWCs.
- iv. Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Days are organized, during which health checkups are conducted and health and nutrition services are provided to children and women beneficiaries in coordination with line departments.
- v. In order to improve the skills of the AWWs and improve the quality of services delivered during home visits, a Poshan Manual ' Saksham ' is provided. This manual serves as an effective aid for the AWWs in counseling pregnant women and lactating mothers on health and nutrition issues, growth monitoring and its importance and counseling during home visits.
- vi. Poshan Pathshalas are organized through webcast to create awareness on nutrition related issues among beneficiaries and community. The topics include Early initiation of breastfeeding, Exclusive breastfeeding and supplementary nutrition.

Further,  in  the  State  of  Maharashtra,  following  initiatives  have  been  taken  to  spread awareness on the issues related to malnutrition:

- i. Meeting of Pregnant Woman and Lactating Mothers are held at Anganwadi level in which health and nutrition counseling is done with the help of Health department.
- iii. To spread the importance of exclusive breast feeding ' Stanpan Saptah (Breast feeding week) ' is celebrated in the Month of August.
- ii. ' Poshan Maah ' is celebrated in the month of September to ensure the awareness of Hygiene and Nutrition among the society, in which rallies are organized with hoardings, flex and banners.
- iv. Exhibition of economically affordable recipes is organized to spread awareness on the nutritional values of vegetables.
- v. Hand wash days are celebrated at Anganwadi centers to spread the awareness of the hygiene.
- vi. Community based events are organized to spread the knowledge of vaccination, nutrition and hygiene.
- vii. Home visits are undertaken by Anganwadi Worker and Supervisor along with the health staff to counsel mothers and family members.

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