Lok Sabha Question No. 1307 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-09
Subject: Health Survey on Women and Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Thirumaa Valavan Thol

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1307

TO BE ANSWERED ON 9.2.2024

## HEALTH SURVEY ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN

## 1307    SHRI THIRUMAVALAVAN THOL:

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

- (a) whether National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is taken only to ascertain the data about the conditions of Women and Children in the country;
- (b) whether  the  under-nutrition,  wasting,  stunting  in  children  worsened  in  the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) compared to the previous survey;
- (c) if so, the details and the reasons there for;
- (d) whether the anaemia in girls and women in the active age group of 15-49 has also worsened in the NFHS-5 compared to the previous survey; and
- (e) if so, the details and the reasons there for?

## ANSWER

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

(a)to  (e)  The  National  Family  Health  Survey  (NFHS)  is  a  large-scale,  multi-round survey  conducted  in  a  representative  sample  of  households  throughout  India  that captures various data points on family including data about the conditions of Women and Children in the country. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW). The report is available on National Family Health Survey portal (http://rchiips.org/nfhs/factsheet\_nfhs-5.shtml).

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). Wasting has improved from 21% (NFHS-4) to 19.3 % (NFHS-5), Under-weight has improved from  35.7%  (NFHS-4)  to  32.1%  (NFHS-5)  and  stunting  has  improved  from  38.4% (NFHS-4) to 35.5% (NFHS-5).

Moreover, as per the data of Poshan Tracker for the month of December 2023, around 7.44 crore children under 6 years were measured, out of whom 36% were found to be stunted and 17% were found to be underweight and 6% children under 5 years were found to be wasted. The levels of underweight and wasting as obtained from Poshan Tracker are much less than that projected by NFHS 5.

Further, with regard to the prevalence of anaemia in women (15-19 years) as per the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21) is 59.1 percent and as per NFHS-

4 (2015-16) is 54.1 percent. The prevalence of anaemia in women (15-49 years) as per NFHS-5 is 57.0 percent and as per NFHS 4 is 53.1 percent. As informed by MoHFW, according to the WHO report on Global Prevalence of Anaemia 2011, 50 percent cases of anaemia are attributed  to  the  iron  deficiency. Other  causes  of  anaemia  include  other  micronutrient  deficiencies  (e.g.  folate, riboflavin,  Vit-A  and  B-12),  acute  and  chronic  infections  (e.g.  malaria,  cancer, tuberculosis, parasitic infections and HIV), and inherited or acquired disorders that affect haemoglobin synthesis (e.g. haemoglobinopathies). The key interventions of MoHFW to improve maternal and child health including nutritional deficiencies and anemia, inter alia , are placed at Annexure I.

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## ANNEXURE I

ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (e) of LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  1307  FOR  09.02.2024  REGARDING  'HEALTH  SURVEY  ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN' ASKED BY SHRI THIRUMAVALAVAN THOL, M.P.

Interventions  of  Nutrition  Division  of  MoHFW  to  improve  maternal  and  child health including nutritional deficiencies and anemia are:

1. Mothers' Absolute Affection (MAA) to improve breastfeeding coverage which includes early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding for first six months followed by age-appropriate complementary feeding practices through capacity building of frontline health workers and comprehensive IEC campaigns.
2. Community Based care of New-born and Young Children :  Under  Home Based  New-born  Care  (HBNC)  and  Home-Based  Care  of  Young  Children (HBYC) program, home visits are performed by ASHAs to improve child rearing practices and to identify sick new-born and young children in the community.
3. Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) are set up at public health facilities to provide in-patient medical and nutritional care to Severe Acute Malnourished (SAM)  children  under  5  years  of  age  with  medical  complications.  Under nutritional management of SAM children admitted in NRCs, therapeutic diet is provided during Stabilization phase and during rehabilitation phase. In addition to  curative  care,  special  focus  is  given  on  timely,  adequate  and  appropriate feeding for children, correction of micronutrient deficiencies, improving the skills for  mother  and  caregivers  on  complete  age-appropriate  caring  and  feeding practices and counselling support is provided to mothers for identifying nutrition and health problems in child.
4. Anemia  Mukt  Bharat  (AMB) strategy  aims  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 interventions are Prophylactic Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation; Deworming; intensified year-round Behaviour Change Communication Campaign  for  improving  Iron  and  Folic  Acid  Supplementation  and  age appropriate infant and young child feeding practices; testing of anaemia using digital methods and point of care treatment; provision of Iron and Folic Acid fortified foods with focus on harnessing locally available resources; addressing non-nutritional causes of anaemia in endemic pockets with special focus on malaria, hemoglobinopathies and fluorosis.
5.  Under National Deworming Day (NDD) albendazole tablets are administered in a single fixed day approach via schools and Anganwadi centres in two rounds (February and August) to reduce the soil transmitted helminth (STH) infestation among all children and adolescents (1-19 years).

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