Lok Sabha Question No. 1993 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-06
Subject: Child Nutrition in Odisha
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato, Shri Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1993

TO BE ANSWERED ON 6.12.2024

## CHILD NUTRITION IN ODISHA

1993.  SHRI SUKANTA KUMAR PANIGRAHI: SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

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

- (a) the  current  status  of  the  Integrated  Child  Development  Services  (ICDS) scheme, and its impact on reducing malnutrition rates in Odisha and Jharkhand, especially in tribal and rural areas where child mortality rates and percentage of anaemic children aged between 6 to 59 months remain high;
- (b) whether any initiatives are being undertaken by the Ministry to ensure effective implementation of community-based management of malnutrition and stunting among tribal children, if so, the details of targeted schemes or schemes such as ICDS and Anganwadi being implemented in the said States;
- (c) whether  the  Ministry  has  assessed  the  adequacy  of  food  supplements  and nutritional support provided to children through Anganwadis ICDS in the said States,  if  so,  the  details  of  any  improvements  or  new  strategies  planned, therefor;
- (d) the details of the estimated allocation of funds for child nutrition programs in said States, for the next five years, year-wise and
- (e) whether the Government has any plan to collaborate with NGOs to enhance child nutrition services in rural and tribal areas, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e) 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.  This  is  a  universal  self-selecting  (no  entry barriers) scheme available to all the eligible beneficiaries who enroll at the Anganwadi

Centers (AWCs) and is being implemented in all States/UTs including the State of Odisha  and  Jharkhand.  The  scheme  is  being  implemented  through  the  State/UT Governments; this Ministry does not collaborate with any NGOs.

The objectives of Mission Poshan 2.0 are as follows:

- To contribute to development of human capital in the country;
- Address challenge of malnutrition;
- Promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and wellbeing

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, anaemia and being underweight.

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.  The  community-based  approach  involves timely detection and screening of children with severe acute malnutrition in the community, management for those without medical complications with wholesome, local nutritious foods at home and supportive medical care. Those malnourished children which have medical complications are referred for facilitybased care.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to 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.

Under this scheme, 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 and upgraded last year. 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 quality protein, healthy fats and micronutrients.

Fortified rice is being supplied to AWCs to meet the requirement of micro-nutrients and to control anaemia 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.

Various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India. Details of these indicators for children since NFHS-1 to NFHS-5 are given below:

| NFHS Survey          |   Stunting% |   Underweight% |   Wasting% |
|----------------------|-------------|----------------|------------|
| NFHS-1 (1992-93)*    |        52   |           53.4 |       17.5 |
| NFHS-2 (1998-99)**   |        45.5 |           47   |       15.5 |
| NFHS-3 (2005-6)***   |        48   |           42.5 |       19.8 |
| NFHS-4 (2015- 16)*** |        38.4 |           35.8 |       21   |
| NFHS-5 (2019- 21)*** |        35.5 |           32.1 |       19.3 |

* Under 4 years
- ** Under 3 years
- *** Under 5 years

The above table gives a representative picture of malnutrition indicators among all children of 0-3 years, 0-4 years and 0-5 years age at the relevant time.

The projected population of all children up to 5 years in India for the year 2021 is 13.75 crores approximately (source: Population Projections for India and States 2011-2036,  National  Commission  on  Population,  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family Welfare).  However,  only  7.54  crores  children  up  to  5  years  are  enrolled  in Anganwadis and registered on Poshan Tracker of the Ministry of Women & Child Development as per the October 2024 data. 7.31 crores of these children were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. 38.9% of these children have been found to be stunted, 17% children have been found to be underweight and 5.2% wasted.

Further, the projected population of all children in India up to 6 years for the year 2021 is approximately 16.1 crores (source: Population Projections for India and States  2011-2036,  National  Commission  on  Population,  Ministry  of  Health  & Family Welfare). As per the October 2024 data of Poshan Tracker, 8.82 crores children (0-6 years) are enrolled in Anganwadis out of whom 8.55 crores were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. 37% of these children (0-

6 years) have been found to be stunted and 17% children (0-6 years) have been found to be underweight.

The  analysis  of  the  above  NFHS  data  and  the  Poshan  Tracker  data  shows improvement in nutritional indicators of children across India.

Details of nutritional indicators of children in Odisha and Jharkhand as per NFHS 4, NFHS 5 and Poshan Tracker are at Annexure-I.

Mission Poshan 2.0 has a total financial implication of ₹1,81,703 crore, comprising ₹1,02,031 crore as Central share and ₹79,672 crore as State share for the 5 years period starting from FY 2021-22 till FY 2025-26. Details of funds released to Odisha and Jharkhand are provided at Annexure - II.

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## Annexure-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 1993 FOR 6.12.2024 REGARDING 'CHILD NUTRITION IN ODISHA' ASKED BY SHRI SUKANTA KUMAR PANIGRAHI AND SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

Details of malnourished children (0 - 5 years) in Odisha and Jharkhand as per NFHS 4, NFHS 5 and Poshan Tracker are as follows:

| State     | NFHS-4 (2015-16)   | NFHS-4 (2015-16)   | NFHS-4 (2015-16)   | NFHS-5 (2019-21)   | NFHS-5 (2019-21)   | NFHS-5 (2019-21)   | Poshan Tracker (Oct, 2024)   | Poshan Tracker (Oct, 2024)   | Poshan Tracker (Oct, 2024)   |
|-----------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|
|           | Stu nte d ( %)     | Wasted (%)         | Under weight (%)   | Stunt ed (%)       | Was ted ( %)       | Underwe ight (%)   | Stunte d (%)                 | Wast ed ( %)                 | Underweigh t (%)             |
| Jharkhand | 45.3               | 29.0               | 47.8               | 39.6               | 22.4               | 39.4               | 43.8                         | 6.2                          | 19.3                         |
| Odisha    | 34.1               | 20.4               | 34.4               | 31.0               | 18.1               | 29.7               | 29.1                         | 2.9                          | 12.8                         |

Annexure-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 1993 FOR 6.12.2024 REGARDING 'CHILD NUTRITION IN ODISHA' ASKED BY SHRI SUKANTA KUMAR PANIGRAHI AND SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, the total amount released to the States of Odisha and Jharkhand, from FY 2021-22 to FY 24-25 (till November 2024), is as follows:

| Year    | Fund released to Odisha (in crore)   | Fund released to Jharkhand (in crore)   |
|---------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 2021-22 | 1065.98                              | 352.98                                  |
| 2022-23 | 923.92                               | 430.91                                  |
| 2023-24 | 968.80                               | 664.30                                  |
| 2024-25 | 665.91*                              | 333.40*                                 |

* funds released up to 20 November 2024

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