Thousand Days of nutrition, and a billion dreams

Context: Malnutrition hinders realisation of true mental and physical potential of young India. This has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cost of malnutrition:

• 68% of 1.04 million deaths of children under five years in India was attributable to malnutrition, in 2017 - Lancet study.
• About 50% of children under five years in were found to be stunted (too short) or wasted (too thin) for their height- Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Nutrition crisis during COVID:
  • Economic insecurities: force girls into early marriage and motherhood, discontinue schooling, reduce institutional deliveries, cut access to micronutrient supplements and nutritious food.
  • Food insecurities: Pushing millions into poverty, reducing incomes of many more and disproportionately affecting the economically disadvantaged.
  • Disrupted essential services: such as supplementary feeding under Anganwadi centres, mid-day meals, immunisation, and micro-nutrient supplementation.

Government measures to tackle malnutrition:

• Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) Abhiyan:
  • Aim: To strengthened the delivery of essential nutrition interventions so that more children have the right start in life for optimum growth, health, development and a prosperous future.
  • Commitment to action: around sustained leadership (led by the PM), dedicated finances, multi-sectoral approach and increased uninterrupted coverage.
    • Garnered support of leaders from academia, civil society and the private sector.
• Other complementary programmes: Integrated Child Development Scheme, the Mid-Day Meal Programme, and Public Distribution System.

Way forward:

• Creating fiscal space: To preserve nutritional security in vulnerable communities.
• Targeted and comprehensive coverage: Of every single child and mother, along with 12 months of Poshan Maah (Nutrition Month), 52 weeks of breastfeeding weeks and 365 days of take-home ration.
• Renew commitments under POSHAN Abhiyaan:
  • Recognise the symbolic value of first 1,000 days: from the conception of a child till the child turns two years old is the most crucial period for nutrition interventions in a lifecycle.
  • Ensuring sustained leadership: at States (chief Minister), District (District Magistrate) and village (panchayat) level like at Union level (Prime Minister).
  • Track nutrition indices through data systems to truly know the effects of pandemic on the nutritional security of the Nation.

Conclusion: Filling in the nutrition gaps will guarantee a level-playing field for all children and strengthen the foundations for the making of a future super-power-India.