Lok Sabha Question No. 82 (STARRED), answered on 2023-12-08
Subject: Anemia and Malnutrition in Women and Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Shrikant Eknath Shinde

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *82

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.12.2023

## ANEMIA AND MALNUTRITION IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN

*82     DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) the  numbers  of  women  suffering  from  anemia  and  children  suffering  from malnutrition in India; (b) the target of the Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 scheme to address the said issues among women and children; (c) the  measures  taken  to  spread  awareness  about  proper  dietary  habits  for pregnant and lactating women to save them from anemia; and (d) the  medically  suggested  measures  taken  to  address  nutritional  deficiencies

- among the pregnant and lactating mothers and malnourished children?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) Statement is laid on the table of the House

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Statement referred to in reply to Part (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *82 by Dr. Heena Vijaykumar Gavit and Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde to be answered on 08.12.2023 regarding 'Anemia And Malnutrition In Women And Children'

(a) The prevalence of anaemia in the country according to National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), among all women age 15-49 years is 57.0 % and among pregnant women  age  15-49  years  is  52.2  %.  The  prevalence  of  stunting,  wasting,  and underweight among children under 5 years in the country, according to National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21) is as below:

| Indicator                                                               |   NFHS 5 (2019-21) |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
| Percentage of children age 5 years who are stunted (Height-for-age)     |               35.5 |
| Percentage of children age 5 years who are wasted (Weight-for-height)   |               19.3 |
| Percentage of children age 5 years who are underweight (Weight-for-age) |               32.1 |

As per the data of Poshan Tracker for the month of  November 2023, around 7.44 crore children under 6 years were measured, out of whom 37.51% were found to be stunted and 17.43% were found to be underweight and were found to be wasted. The levels of underweight and wasting are much less than that projected by NFHS 5.

(b) Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0  is  an  integrated  nutrition  support programme, to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition. It  focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, Treatment of MAM/SAM and Wellness through Ayush practices to  reduce wasting and under-weight prevalence besides stunting and anaemia.

The objectives of Poshan 2.0 are as follows:

- o To contribute to human capital development of the country;
- o Address challenges of malnutrition;
- o Promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and well-being; and
- o Address nutrition related deficiencies through key strategies.

(c)  &  (d). Under Poshan 2.0, focus is on diet diversity, food fortification, leveraging traditional systems of knowledge and popularizing use of millet. Dietary diversification in the Anganwadi platform encourages the consumption of micronutrient rich foods, viz.,  dark green leafy vegetables, lentils and vitamin C rich fruits. States/UTs have been advised to use fortified foods ingredients e.g., Fortified Wheat Flour, Fortified Rice, Double Fortified Salt and Fortified Edible Oil, under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme.

Further, to give high importance  to  issues  around  Anaemia, dedicated 'Anaemia  related  themes  have  been  undertaken  by  Ministry  of  Women  &  Child Development under Poshan Abhiyaan wherein around 6 crore activities on Anaemia have been reported so far.  In the recently held Poshan Maah in September, 2023, more than 35 crore sensitisation activities have been reported, of which around 4 crore were focused around Anaemia. The Ministry took steps to encourage the adoption of millet  across  the  country.  So  far,  through  Jan  Andolans,  more  than  5  crore sensitisation activities have been conducted focusing on Millet promotion in last two years helping target beneficiaries to fight against anaemia through sensitisation and adoption of healthy, millet-based eating practices.

States/UTs have also been advised to promote use of AYUSH systems for prevention  of  malnutrition  and  related  diseases.   First  eve r  National  protocol  for Community Management of Malnutrition in  children  was  launched  jointly  by  the Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  and  the  Ministry  of  Health  and  Family Welfare  dated  10th  October  2023  providing  detailed  steps  for  identification  and management of malnourished children at  the  Anganwadi  level,  including  decisionmaking for referral, nutritional management and follow-up care. Further, area wise diet charts for  pregnant women and malnourished pregnant women in  the  reproductive age group has also been prepared and disseminated to States/UTs.

The key interventions of MoHFW to improve maternal and child health including nutritional deficiencies and anemia, inter alia , are:

- i. Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy is implemented to reduce anemia among six beneficiaries age group - children (6-59 months), children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and in women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanism. The steps taken to address the problem of anemia are:
2. o Prophylactic Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation in all six target age groups
3. o Intensified year-round Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Campaign
4. o Testing using digital methods and point of care treatment, with special focus on pregnant women and school-going adolescents
5. o Addressing non-nutritional causes of anemia in endemic pockets with special focus on malaria, hemoglobinopathies and fluorosis
6. o Providing  incentives  to  the  ANM  for  identification  and  follow-up  of  pregnant women with severe anemia in high priority districts (HPDs)
7. o Management of severe anemia in pregnant women by administration of IV Iron Sucrose/Blood transfusion
- ii. Monthly  Village  Health,  Sanitation  and  Nutrition  Day  (VHSND) is  an  outreach activity  at  Anganwadi  centers  for  provision  of  maternal  and  child  care  including nutrition in convergence with the ICDS.
- iii. MCP Card and Safe Motherhood Booklet are distributed to the pregnant women for educating  them  on  diet,  rest,  danger  signs  of  pregnancy,  benefit  schemes  and institutional deliveries.

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