Lok Sabha Question No. 3527 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-21
Subject: Malnutrition and Stunting among Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3527

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2025

## MALNUTRITION AND STUNTING AMONG CHILDREN

## 3527.   SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

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

- (a) the current rates of stunting, wasting and malnutrition among children under six years, state wise.
- (b) the extent to which ICDS has contributed to addressing these challenges as per evaluation studies;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  identified  and  implemented  location-specific strategies to reduce malnutrition and stunting; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof, and if not, the reason therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) to (d) Under the 15th Finance Commission, various components like Anganwadi services,  Poshan  Abhiyaan  and  Scheme  for  Adolescent  girls  (of  14-18  years  in Aspirational  Districts  and  North-Eastern  region)  have  been  subsumed  under  the umbrella  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0  (Mission  Poshan  2.0)  to address the challenge of malnutrition. It is a Centrally Sponsored mission, where the responsibility for implementation of various activities lies with the States and UTs. This mission is a universal self-selecting umbrella where there are no entry barriers for any beneficiary to register and receive services. This mission is being implemented across the country.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0 a new strategy has been made for reduction in malnutrition and  for  improved  health,  wellness  and  immunity  through  activities  like  community engagement,  outreach,  behavioral  change,  and  advocacy.  It  focuses  on  Maternal Nutrition,  Infant  and  Young  Child  Feeding  Norms,  treatment  of  Severe  Acute Malnutrition (SAM)/ Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and wellness through AYUSH practices to reduce prevalence of wasting, stunting, and being underweight.

Under this mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years),  Pregnant  Women,  Lactating  Mothers  and  Adolescent  Girls  to  beat  the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition by adopting a life cycle approach. Supplementary nutrition is provided in accordance with the nutrition norms contained in Schedule-II of the National Food Security Act. These norms have been revised in January  2023.  The  old  norms  were  largely  calorie-specific;  however,  the  revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of supplementary  nutrition  based  on  the  principles  of  diet  diversity  that  provides  for quality protein, healthy fats and micronutrients.

Fortified rice is being supplied to AWCs to meet the requirement of micro-nutrients and to control anemia among women and children. Greater emphasis is being laid on the use of millets for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal at least once a week and Take Home ration at Anganwadi centers.

Ministries of Women & Child Development and Health & Family Welfare have jointly released the protocol for Community Management of Malnutrition (CMAM) to prevent and treat severely acute malnutrition in children and for reducing associated morbidity and mortality.

Under this Mission, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to a Jan Andolan to educate people on nutritional aspects. State and UTs are conducting and reporting regular sensitisation activities under  community  engagement  programmes  during  Poshan  Maahs  and  Poshan Pakhwadas celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional  practices  and  all  Anganwadi  workers  are  required  to  conduct  two Community Based Events every month.

In 2021, the World Bank conducted a survey in 11 priority states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan,  Tamil  Nadu  and  Uttar  Pradesh)  with  the  highest  rates  of  anemia  and stunting.  The  aim  of  this  survey  was  to  assess  the  program's  delivery  of  nutrition services, whether the nutritional knowledge of beneficiaries had improved and if they had adopted more appropriate nutrition and feeding practices.

The findings demonstrated that the services delivered through the Poshan Abhiyaan -  the  receipt  of  relevant  messages,  home  visits  by  the  anganwadi  worker,  and attendance  at  community-based  events  -  were  associated  with  improved  nutrition behaviors. The survey also found that the program's nutrition messages reached more than 80% of women, and that 81% of women practiced exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.

Some of the additional strategies to reduce malnutrition are as follows:

- Suposhit  Gram  Panchayat  Abhiyaan  has  been  launched  to  motivate  Gram Panchayats  and  Anganwadi  functionaries  to  take  proactive  measures  in improving nutrition through provision of incentives.
- Under  Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls,  which  has  been  subsumed  in  Mission Poshan 2.0, Adolescent Girls in the age group of 14 to 18 years (in Aspirational Districts  and  all  North  Eastern  State)  are  provided  nutritional  support  for improving their health and nutritional status under the nutrition component and IFA supplementation, Health check-up and Referral Service, Nutrition & Health Education and Skilling etc. under non-nutrition component of the Scheme.
- During  the  15 th   Finance  Commission  cycle,  2  lakh  Anganwadi  Centres  @ 40,000  AWCs  per  year  are  to  be  upgraded  as  Saksham  Anganwadis  for improved  nutrition delivery  and  for  imparting  early  childhood  care  and development. Saksham Anganwadis are to be provided with better infrastructure  than  the  conventional  Anganwadi  Centres  which  includes internet/Wi-Fi  connectivity,  LED  screens,  water  purifier/installation  of  RO Machine and smart learning equipments. As on date, 2 lakh AWCs have been approved as Saksham Anganwadi across the country.
- The  PM  JANMAN  Mission  launched  by  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  aims  for targeted  development  of  75  Particularly  Vulnerable  Tribal  Groups  (PVTGs) residing in 18 States and a UT. This Mission focuses on 11 critical interventions related to 9 key Ministries including Ministry of Women and Child Development. As on date, a total of 2139 AWCs has been approved for construction under PM JANMAN across the country.
- Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched Dharti Aaba Janjati Gram Unnat Abhiyan (DAJGUA)  aimed at improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities by adopting saturation coverage of tribal families in tribal majority areas and aspirational block ST villages. The intervention of Ministry of Women and Child Development involves establishment of 2000 new Saksham AWCs and upgradation of 6000 existing AWCs into Saksham AWCs from FY 2024-25 to  FY  2028-29.  As  on  date,  a  total  of  236  AWCs  have  been  approved  for construction under DAJGUA across the country.

The State-wise malnutrition status of children is annexed.

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Annexure

## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 3527 FOR 21.03.2025 REGARDING 'MALNUTRITION AND STUNTING AMONG CHILDREN' BY SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM

State wise details of malnutrition indicators for children from Poshan Tracker for the month of February 2025 are as follows:

|   S. No. | State                              |   Stunted% (0-6 Years) |   Wasted% (0-5 Years) |   Underweight% (0-6 Years) |
|----------|------------------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------|----------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh                     |                  18.25 |                  4.83 |                       8.46 |
|        2 | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                  35.08 |                  4.54 |                      10.76 |
|        3 | Assam                              |                  40.52 |                  4.12 |                      16.63 |
|        4 | Bihar                              |                  45.98 |                  9.58 |                      24.53 |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh                       |                  25.04 |                  6.96 |                      14.23 |
|        6 | Goa                                |                   7.42 |                  1.1  |                       2.8  |
|        7 | Gujarat                            |                  35.28 |                  7.95 |                      21.3  |
|        8 | Haryana                            |                  25.86 |                  4.17 |                       8.76 |
|        9 | Himachal Pradesh                   |                  18.49 |                  2.07 |                       6.76 |
|       10 | Jharkhand                          |                  42.87 |                  6.39 |                      19.63 |
|       11 | Karnataka                          |                  40.79 |                  3.68 |                      18.86 |
|       12 | Kerala                             |                  34.97 |                  2.93 |                      10.41 |
|       13 | Madhya Pradesh                     |                  44.81 |                  7.04 |                      26.79 |
|       14 | Maharashtra                        |                  42.16 |                  3.8  |                      15.71 |
|       15 | Manipur                            |                   8.54 |                  0.66 |                       2.61 |
|       16 | Meghalaya                          |                  18.73 |                  0.92 |                       4.95 |
|       17 | Mizoram                            |                  28.03 |                  2.49 |                       7.05 |
|       18 | Nagaland                           |                  28.9  |                  5.61 |                       7.12 |
|       19 | Odisha                             |                  27.64 |                  2.98 |                      12.57 |
|       20 | Punjab                             |                  19.16 |                  3.5  |                       6.32 |
|       21 | Rajasthan                          |                  38.21 |                  6.31 |                      19.32 |
|       22 | Sikkim                             |                   9.54 |                  2.04 |                       2.05 |
|       23 | Tamil Nadu                         |                  13.1  |                  3.46 |                       6.35 |
|       24 | Telangana                          |                  33.56 |                  5.25 |                      16.45 |
|       25 | Tripura                            |                  38.84 |                  6.99 |                      18.02 |
|       26 | Uttar Pradesh                      |                  47.1  |                  4.34 |                      19.99 |
|       27 | Uttarakhand                        |                  23.55 |                  2.4  |                       6.49 |
|       28 | West Bengal                        |                  33.05 |                  6.57 |                      11.21 |
|       29 | Andaman & Nicobar Islands          |                   8.26 |                  2.11 |                       3.58 |
|       30 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu |                  36.26 |                  2.47 |                      15.3  |
|       31 | Delhi                              |                  42.82 |                  2.51 |                      18.23 |

| 32   | J&K           |   13.31 |   1.28 |   3.25 |
|------|---------------|---------|--------|--------|
| 33   | Ladakh        |    9.88 |   0.19 |   1.62 |
| 34   | Lakshadweep   |   40.61 |  11.86 |  22.2  |
| 35   | Puducherry    |   41.13 |   7.36 |  13.24 |
| 36   | UT-Chandigarh |   24.74 |   1.66 |   9.28 |
|      | Total         |   37.75 |   5.35 |  17.19 |

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