The Centre will launch a drive to identify Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) children and ensure their adequate nutrition and care during ongoing POSHAN Maah 2020, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani tweeted on Monday.
Irani said that the drive will have a long-term impact on the health of such children and would improve the country’s nutrition indicators as well.
The Central government is also developing Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh – a repository of an indigenous crop of every region, every district of India. “We also aim to form a database of indigenous recipes of every corner of the country,” she informed further.
In the latest ‘Mann Ki Baat’, PM Modi declared September as the ‘nutrition month’. He stressed the need for adequate nutrition for mother and child and also called for people’s participation. He had informed several activities, including quizzes and competitions, would be hosted on the MyGov portal.
The figures of health in India
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4, 2015-16, every second child in India suffers from at least one form of nutrition failure. It might be stunting, under-weight, or wasting, according to the survey conducted in 2015-16. These figures translate to about 77 million undernourished children in India. The NFHS survey outlined that India has 38.4% stunted, 35.8% underweight, 21% wasted and 7.5% severely wasted children aged less than five years. In the last decade, severe acute malnutrition has increased from 6.4% (NFHS-3, 2005-06) to 7.5% (NFHS -4, 2015-16) in India.
