(a) whether the level of malnutrition among women in certain areas is higher than other parts of the country and if so, the details thereof and the reasons there for; and
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the schemes being implemented/proposed to be implemented by the Government to tackle this problem?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) to (b) As per NFHS-4, 22.9% women (15-49 years) are underweight (Body Mass Index <18.5 kg/m2) which is a reduction from the previous NFHS-3 levels which reported 35.5% women (15-49 years) as underweight.However, the prevalence of malnutrition varies across States/UTs. The States/UTs with higher prevalence of underweight than the National average are Jharkhand, Bihar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The State-wise details are at Annexure.
Under-nutrition is a complex and multi-dimensional issue, affected mainly by a number of generic factors including poverty, inadequate food consumption due to access and availability issues, inequitable food distribution, improper maternal infant and child feeding and care practices, inequity and gender imbalances, poor sanitary and environmental conditions; and restricted access to quality health, education and social care services.
The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Departments through States/UTs to address various aspects related to nutrition. This Ministry is implementing Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Anganwadi Services and Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS) as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition among women in the country.
Further, the Government has set up POSHAN Abhiyaan on 18.12.2017. The goals of POSHAN Abhiyaan are to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner with fixed targets as under:
S.No. Objective Target
1. Prevent and reduce Stunting in children
(0- 6 years) @ 2% p.a.
2. Prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years) @ 2% p.a.
3. Reduce the prevalence of anaemia among young Children(6-59 months) @ 3% p.a.
4. Reduce the prevalence of anaemia among Women and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 15-49 years. @ 3% p.a.
5. Reduce Low Birth Weight (LBW). @ 2% p.a.
The Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in the country in a phased manner, through a lifecycle approach, by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. The Abhiyaan has mechanisms for timely service delivery and a robust monitoring as well as intervention infrastructure. The major activities undertaken under this Abhiyaan are ensuring convergence with various other programmes; Information Technology enabled Common Application Software for strengthening service delivery and interventions; Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan to educate the people on nutritional aspects; Capacity Building of Frontline Functionaries, incentivizing States/ UTs for achieving goals etc.
Further steps taken under the National Health Mission (NHM), a flagship programme of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to address malnutrition inter alia include Anaemia Mukt Bharat, Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, calcium supplementation, promotion of iodized salt, Mission Indradhanush to ensure high coverage of vaccination in children, monthly Village Health and Nutrition Days, etc.
*****
Annexure
Statement referred in reply of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3250 for answer on 13.03.2020 raised by Regional Disparity in the Prevalence of Malnutrition
Prevalence of Underweight among Women (BMI <18.5 Kg/m2) as per NFHS-3 (2005-06) and NFHS-4 (2015-16)
S. No. State/UT NFHS-3 NFHS-4
India 35.6 22.9
1 Jharkhand 43 31.6
2 Bihar 45.1 30.5
3 Dadra Nagar Haveli - 28.7
4 Madhya Pradesh 41.7 28.4
5 Gujarat 36.3 27.2
6 Rajasthan 36.7 27
7 Chhattisgarh 43.4 26.7
8 Odisha 41 26.5
9 Assam 36.5 25.7
10 Uttar Pradesh 36 25.3
11 Maharashtra 36.2 23.5
12 Telangana - 22.9
13 West Bengal 39.1 21.3
14 Karnataka 35.5 20.8
15 Tripura 36.9 19
16 Uttarakhand 30 18.4
17 Andhra Pradesh 33.5 17.6
18 Himachal Pradesh 29.9 16.2
19 Haryana 31.3 15.8
20 Delhi 14.8 14.8
21 Goa 27.9 14.7
22 Tamil Nadu 28.4 14.6
23 Lakshadweep - 13.5
24 Chandigarh - 13.3
25 Andaman & Nicobar - 13.1
26 Daman & Diu - 12.9
27 Nagaland 17.4 12.3
28 Jammu & Kashmir 24.6 12.1
29 Meghalaya 14.6 12.1
30 Punjab 18.9 11.7
31 Puducherry - 11.3
32 Kerala 18 9.7
33 Manipur 14.8 8.8
34 Arunachal Pradesh 16.4 8.5
35 Mizoram 14.4 8.4
36 Sikkim 11.2 6.4