Nutritional Programmes and Policies
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Direct answer
India's nutrition architecture spans the Integrated Child Development Services (1975) delivering six services through anganwadis, the PM POSHAN school meal programme, the National Nutrition Policy 1993, POSHAN Abhiyaan (2018) with its convergent mission approach, Anaemia Mukt Bharat's 6x6x6 strategy, weekly iron-folic acid supplementation for adolescents, the vitamin A schedule beginning with measles-rubella vaccination, and the iodine deficiency control programme mandating iodised salt. Each scheme maps to a deficiency the ABCD assessment detects: protein-energy malnutrition to ICDS and therapeutic feeding, anaemia to IFA and food fortification, iodine deficiency to salt iodisation at 15 ppm or more at household level. Together they form the single most exam-dense cluster in community medicine.
What you must remember
- ICDS (1975): six services — supplementary nutrition, non-formal preschool education, nutrition and health education, immunisation, health check-ups and referral — delivered through anganwadi centres to children under six, pregnant and lactating mothers.
- PM POSHAN (renamed 2021): hot cooked mid-day meals for primary and upper-primary classes, at least 450 and 700 calories respectively, with the Targeted Public Distribution System and National Food Security Act 2013 beneath as the food-security floor.
- POSHAN Abhiyaan (2018): National Nutrition Mission to reduce stunting, undernutrition and low birth weight, using anganwadi technology, convergence and Jan Andolan; now subsumed into Poshan 2.0 (2021).
- Anaemia Mukt Bharat (2018): 6x6x6 strategy — six beneficiary groups, six interventions and six institutional mechanisms; IFA supplementation (100 mg elemental iron with 500 microgram folic acid), biannual deworming, testing and treatment.
- IFA schedules to memorise: daily IFA in pregnancy starting as early as possible (100 mg elemental iron + 500 µg folic acid); weekly IFA for adolescents (10-19 years); children 6-60 months get IFA syrup (20 mg elemental iron + 100 µg folic acid) biweekly.
- Vitamin A programme: first dose 1 lakh IU with MR-1 at 9 months, then 2 lakh IU every six months to 5 years; prophylaxis against xerophthalmia.
- NIDDCP: iodised salt must provide at least 15 ppm iodine at the household level; ban on sale of non-iodised salt for direct human consumption; goitre monitoring through district surveys.
- Fortification beyond salt: +F staples — iron-fortified rice in safety-net programmes, milk with vitamin A and D, oil with vitamins A and D — under FSSAI standards, increasingly exam-relevant.
Tracing one deficiency through the machinery
Follow iodine from goitre belt to policy. Himalayan surveys established endemic goitre; the National Goitre Control Programme (1962) became the National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme as the agenda widened to cretinism and IQ loss. The lever was regulation: salt iodisation with at least 15 ppm at the consumer end, labelling, and the ban on non-iodised salt for edible use. Outcome tracking shifted from goitre palpation to household coverage of adequately iodised salt and urinary iodine surveys — NFHS-5 recorded roughly three-quarters of households using iodised salt, a viva-worthy improvement over two decades.
Place anaemia against the same template and the complexity multiplies: the deficit is dietary, aggravated by malaria and hookworm, so Anaemia Mukt Bharat stacks IFA tablets, deworming, malaria control, fortified staples and screening — six interventions precisely because no single lever suffices. The exam-ready insight is that nutrition programmes converge or fail: the anganwadi, school and village health and nutrition day are the meeting points where Poshan 2.0 tries to bind ICDS, health and sanitation into one child-facing service.
How the exam frames it
Theory papers predictably ask ICDS services, Anaemia Mukt Bharat or the vitamin A schedule as short notes, and marks die in the details — the six ICDS services verbatim, the exact IU figures (1 lakh first dose, 2 lakh subsequent), and the IFA milligram strengths. Viva examiners probe numbers: calories in a mid-day meal, the 15 ppm household iodine standard, and the 6x6x6 expansion (six groups including adolescent boys, women in reproductive age and the elderly; six interventions from IFA to fortified rice). A favourite trap asks which programme predates the National Nutrition Policy — ICDS (1975) predates the policy (1993), and knowing the chronology signals real reading. Expect one policy-definition question: POSHAN Abhiyaan targets stunting reduction of 2 per cent per year, and candidates who quote its convergence and technology pillars score the top band.
Frequently asked questions
What are the six services of ICDS?
Supplementary nutrition, non-formal preschool education, nutrition and health education, immunisation, health check-ups and referral services, delivered through anganwadi centres.
What is the 6x6x6 strategy of Anaemia Mukt Bharat?
Six beneficiary groups, six interventions (IFA, deworming, testing, fortified food, malaria control, behaviour change) and six institutional mechanisms driving anaemia reduction from 2018.
What is the vitamin A prophylaxis schedule in India?
First dose of 1 lakh IU with MR-1 at 9 months, then 2 lakh IU every six months until 5 years of age.
What iodine level must iodised salt provide?
At least 15 parts per million of iodine at the household level, backed by a ban on the sale of non-iodised salt for direct human consumption.
What is POSHAN Abhiyaan?
The National Nutrition Mission launched in 2018 to reduce stunting, undernutrition and low birth weight through technology-driven tracking, intersectoral convergence and community mobilisation, now under Poshan 2.0.