National Nutrition Mission (Poshan Abhiyaan), Features, Objectives

The National Nutrition Mission which was launched on March 8, 2018 is now known as Poshan Abhiyaan introduced to improve the nutritional status of children (0-6 years), adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, aiming to reduce stunting, wasting, and anemia. This scheme was implemented across all 36 States/UTs, including Tamil Nadu and Odisha, it majorly focused on the use of technology, convergence, and behavior change through Jan Andolan.

National Nutrition Mission Objectives

1. The scheme was launched to increase the level of nutritional status of children (0-6 years), adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers within a timeframe from 2017-18.
2. Ensure integrated efforts by Aligning with programs like Anganwadi Services, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Janani Suraksha Yojana, National Health Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, PDS, and MGNREGS.
3. Tackles stunting, under-nutrition, and anemia in women and adolescents, providing direct cash transfers as a transformative approach to eradicate malnutrition.

National Nutrition Mission Features

1. This scheme focuses on maternal nutrition, child feeding practices, treatment of severe acute malnutrition, and wellness through AYUSH.
2. Provide access to nutritious fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
3. Provide the food which is diet diverse, food fortified, using millets, and doing rice allocation.
4. Poshan Tracker ensures real-time monitoring and better governance.
5. Over 10 lakh Anganwadi Workers trained with growth monitoring devices deployed for effective implementation.

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National Nutrition Mission Challenges

1. Though the policy was introduced with a strong intention, addressing malnutrition requires a multi-dimensional approach, making effective implementation challenging.
2. Ministries and departments involved in healthcare often function independently, affecting collaboration.
3. Only 16% of the allocated funds for 2018-19 were utilized, highlighting inefficiencies in resource deployment.
4. Absence of real-time data monitoring and gaps in sustainability and accountability mechanisms can weaken the impact of the National Nutrition Mission (NNM).
5. Effective implementation demands substantial human resources, and challenges such as power supply, literacy, and sensitive use of technology in low-and-middle-income regions require extensive capacity-building efforts.

National Nutrition Mission Achievements

1. Stunting has decreased from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 35.5% (NFHS-5).
2. Wasting has reduced from 21.0% to 19.3%.
3. Underweight prevalence has dropped from 35.8% to 32.1%.
4. Ministries and departments prepare nutrition-related action plans and align them with ongoing activities.
5. State, district, and block-level convergence meetings ensure coordinated implementation.
6. Over 1 crore millet-focused activities were organized in 2023 to promote nutritious diets.