Lok Sabha Question No. 3047 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-13
Subject: Malnutrition
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Raja Ram Singh, Shri S Supongmeren Jamir

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3047 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2024

## MALNUTRITION

## 3047.  SHRI S SUPONGMEREN JAMIR: SHRI RAJA RAM SINGH:

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

- (a) whether 17 per cent of children under six were underweight, 36 per cent were stunted,  and  6  per  cent  were  wasted  including  46  per  cent  stunted  in  Uttar Pradesh, if so, the details thereof indicating the number of underweight and stunted children, State-wise;
- (b) the  steps  taken/  proposed  to  be  taken  to  address  malnutrition  in  children especially in high-burden States and districts, State/ UT-wise and district-wise;
- (c) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  monitor  and  improve  child  nutrition outcomes  effectively  along  with  the  resources  allocated  to  States  with  high percentage of stunted children;
- (d) whether the Government is planning to reduce the high rate of stunting and underweight children particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Lakshadweep having highest percentage of such children, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the details of the measures taken/ proposed to be taken by the Government to improve  access  to  nutrient  rich  food  for  vulnerable  population  especially  in region with high levels of poverty?

## 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 through improved nutrition content and delivery. It  is  a  Centrally Sponsored mission, where the responsibility of implementation lies with the States/UTs.

This is a self-selecting scheme available to all the eligible beneficiaries who enroll at  the  Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) and is being implemented in all States/UTs including high burden districts.

Nutrition goes beyond mere eating of food; it requires proper digestion, absorption, and  metabolism  which  are  influenced  by  factors  like  sanitation,  education  and access to safe drinking water. As malnutrition requires a multi-sector approach involving dimensions of food, health, water, sanitation and education, it is crucial to effectively address the issue of malnutrition. The challenges of malnutrition are being  addressed  under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0  by establishing cross cutting convergence amongst 18 Ministries/Departments.

Under this Mission, 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.

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.

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.

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 malnutrition indicators in children across India.

IT systems have been leveraged to strengthen and bring about transparency in nutrition  delivery  systems  at  the  Anganwadi  centres.  The  'Poshan  Tracker' application was rolled out on 1st March, 2021 as an important IT governance tool. It facilitates monitoring and tracking of all Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and beneficiaries on defined indicators. Poshan Tracker is being leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, under-weight prevalence among children.

The mobile application has also facilitated digitization and automation of physical registers  used  by  AWWs  that  helps  in  improving  their  quality  of  work.  Poshan Tracker is available in 24 languages including Hindi and English. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi Services such as, daily attendance, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Provision of Hot Cooked Meal /Take Home Ration, Growth Measurement etc.

State wise details of malnutrition indicators for children age (0  - 5 years) are at

Annexure-I. State wise details of funds released to States under Mission Poshan 2.0 during the last three years are provided at Annexure - II.

*****

## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 3047 REGARDING 'MALNUTRITION' ASKED BY SHRI S SUPONGMEREN JAMIR AND SHRI RAJA RAM SINGH

State wise details of malnutrition indicators for children age (0 - 5 years) from Poshan Tracker for the month of October 2024 are as follows*:

| State                              |   Stunted% |   Underweight% |
|------------------------------------|------------|----------------|
| Andhra Pradesh                     |       22.6 |           10.8 |
| Arunachal Pradesh                  |       32.8 |            9.6 |
| Assam                              |       42.4 |           16.4 |
| Bihar                              |       43.8 |           22.9 |
| Chhattisgarh                       |       21.5 |           13.1 |
| Goa                                |        4.1 |            1.7 |
| Gujarat                            |       40.8 |           21   |
| Haryana                            |       28.2 |            8.7 |
| Himachal Pradesh                   |       18.4 |            6.3 |
| Jharkhand                          |       43.8 |           19.3 |
| Karnataka                          |       39.7 |           17.1 |
| Kerala                             |       34.4 |            9.5 |
| Madhya Pradesh                     |       46.5 |           26.5 |
| Maharashtra                        |       47.7 |           16.5 |
| Manipur                            |        7.7 |            2.6 |
| Meghalaya                          |       18.2 |            4.5 |
| Mizoram                            |       26.7 |            5.9 |
| Nagaland                           |       28   |            6.6 |
| Odisha                             |       29.1 |           12.8 |
| Punjab                             |       18.4 |            5.9 |
| Rajasthan                          |       36.6 |           17.7 |
| Sikkim                             |        9.2 |            1.7 |
| Tamil Nadu                         |       13.4 |            7.1 |
| Telangana                          |       32.6 |           16.2 |
| Tripura                            |       40.5 |           16.6 |
| Uttar Pradesh                      |       48   |           19.4 |
| Uttarakhand                        |       21   |            5.4 |
| West Bengal                        |       38   |           13   |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands          |        8.7 |            3.9 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu |       35.9 |           16.1 |
| Delhi                              |       41.9 |           20.6 |
| J&K                                |       12.1 |            3   |
| Ladakh                             |       11   |            2   |
| Lakshadweep                        |       46.5 |           25.1 |
| Puducherry                         |       40.2 |           13   |
| UT-Chandigarh                      |       26.3 |           11.9 |

Annexure-II

## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 3047 REGARDING 'MALNUTRITION' ASKED BY SHRI S SUPONGMEREN JAMIR AND SHRI RAJA RAM SINGH

State/UT wise details of funds released under Mission Poshan 2.0 during the last three years:

|   S. No. | STATES/UTs                           |   Amount released in ₹crores |
|----------|--------------------------------------|------------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands          |                        35.71 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh                       |                      2278.07 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                    |                       470.67 |
|        4 | Assam                                |                      5204.84 |
|        5 | Bihar                                |                      5173.81 |
|        6 | Chandigarh                           |                        68.22 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh                         |                      1855.15 |
|        8 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |                        27.1  |
|        9 | Delhi                                |                       477.69 |
|       10 | Goa                                  |                        39.49 |
|       11 | Gujarat                              |                      2879.3  |
|       12 | Haryana                              |                       594.07 |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh                     |                       819.31 |
|       14 | Jammu & Kashmir                      |                      1415.63 |
|       15 | Jharkhand                            |                      1448.19 |
|       16 | Karnataka                            |                      2682.54 |
|       17 | Kerala                               |                      1139.85 |
|       18 | Ladakh                               |                        53.1  |
|       19 | Lakshadweep                          |                         5.43 |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh                       |                      3220.15 |
|       21 | Maharashtra                          |                      5059.08 |

|   22 | Manipur       |   566.15 |
|------|---------------|----------|
|   23 | Meghalaya     |   635.41 |
|   24 | Mizoram       |   202.39 |
|   25 | Nagaland      |   622.01 |
|   26 | Odisha        |  2958.71 |
|   27 | Puducherry    |     7.37 |
|   28 | Punjab        |   766.7  |
|   29 | Rajasthan     |  2748.63 |
|   30 | Sikkim        |    79.54 |
|   31 | TamilNadu     |  2302.98 |
|   32 | Telangana     |  1540.88 |
|   33 | Tripura       |   581.47 |
|   34 | Uttar Pradesh |  7798.11 |
|   35 | Uttarakhand   |  1067.74 |
|   36 | West Bengal   |  3133.5  |

*****