Global Nutrition Report 2020

Global Nutrition Report 2020-India may miss nutrition targets

About Global Nutrition Report

• This report has been produced by the Independent Expert Group of the Global Nutrition Report, supported by the Global Nutrition Report Stakeholder Group.
• The Global Nutrition Report was conceived following the first Nutrition for Growth Initiative Summit (N4G) in 2013. The first report was published in 2014.
• The Global Nutrition Report acts as a report card on the world’s nutrition—globally, regionally, and country by country—and on efforts to improve it.
• It assesses progress in meeting Global Nutrition Targets established by the World Health Assembly.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is a Global Nutrition Report Partner.

Findings

India is among 88 countries that are likely to miss global nutrition targets by 2025, according to the Global Nutrition Report 2020 released on Tuesday.

India is one with the highest rates of domestic inequalities in malnutrition.

In 2012, the World Health Assembly identified six nutrition targets for maternal, infant and young child nutrition to be met by 2025.

Global Nutrition targets-2025 (6 nutritional targets)

1. Reduce stunting by 40% in children under 5 years .
2. Reduce prevalence of anaemia by 50% among women in the age group of 19-49 years.
3. Ensure 30% reduction in low-birth weight .
4. No increase in childhood overweight.
5. Increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months up to at least 50%.
6. Reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5%.

According to the Global Nutrition Report 2020, India will miss targets for all four nutritional indicators for which there is data available, i.e. stunting among under-5 children, anaemia among women of reproductive age (19-49 years), childhood overweight and exclusive breastfeeding.

Underweight children

• Between 2000 and 2016, rates of underweight have decreased from 66.0% to 58.1% for boys and 54.2% to 50.1% in girls.
• However, this is still high compared to the average of 35.6% for boys and 31.8% for girls in Asia.
• In addition, 37.9% of children under 5 years are stunted and 20.8% are wasted, compared to the Asia average of 22.7% and 9.4% respectively.
• India is identified as among the 3 worst countries, along with Nigeria and Indonesia, for steep within countries disparities on stunting.

Stunting Level

• Stunting level in Uttar Pradesh is over 40%.
• The rate is double among the lowest income group of 50.7% to the highest income group of 22%.
• Stunting is 10% higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition or POSHAN Abhiyaan

The Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition or POSHAN Abhiyaan or National Nutrition Mission, is Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Launched by the Prime Minister on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on 8 March, 2018 from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, the POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan directs the attention of the country towards the problem of malnutrition and address it in a mission-mode.

NITI Aayog has played a critical role in shaping the POSHAN Abhiyaan. The National Nutrition Strategy, released by NITI Aayog in September, 2017 presented a micro analysis of the problems persisting within this area and chalked out an in-depth strategy for course correction.

Most of the recommendations presented in the Strategy document have been subsumed within the design of the POSHAN Abhiyaan and now that the Abhiyaan is launched, NITI Aayog has been entrusted with the task of closely monitoring the POSHAN Abhiyaan and undertaking periodic evaluations.

With the overarching aim to build a people’s movement (Jan Andolan) around malnutrition, POSHAN Abhiyaan intends to significantly reduce malnutrition in the next three years

Four pillars of the mission are:

1. Inter-sectoral convergence for better service delivery
2. Use of technology (ICT) for real time growth monitoring and tracking of women and children
3. Intensified health and nutrition services for the first 1000 days
4. Jan Andolan

The task of implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan is to be carried out through the Technical Support Unit (TSU) established at NITI Aayog which, in addition to the M&E, will also provide research, policy and technical support to the Abhiyaan.

Targets

• The Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
• The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.

POSHAN Maah

• Month of September 2018 was celebrated as Rashtriya POSHAN Maah. The activities in POSHAN Maah focussed on Social Behavioural Change and Communication (SBCC).
• The broad themes were: antenatal care, optimal breastfeeding (early and exclusive), complementary feeding, anaemia, growth monitoring, girls’ - education, diet, right age of marriage, hygiene and sanitation, eating healthy - food fortification.

National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges

As per the mandate of Government of India, MoWCD has constituted the National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges under the Chairmanship of Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog with the following objectives:

• To provide policy directions to address India’s Nutrition Challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action
• To coordinate and review convergence among ministries
• To review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis