National Nutrition Programmes
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Direct answer
Stunting 35.5%, wasting 19.3%, anaemia in 67% of children and 57% of women — NFHS-5 (2019-21) numbers that explain why India keeps rebuilding its nutrition architecture. The Integrated Child Development Services, running since 1975 through anganwadi centres, delivers supplementary nutrition, pre-school education, immunisation linkage, health check-up and referral for children under six, adolescent girls and pregnant-lactating women. In 2021-22 the government consolidated Anganwadi Services, POSHAN Abhiyaan (the 2018 National Nutrition Mission) and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls into Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, while the mid-day meal was renamed and strengthened as PM POSHAN in September 2021. Anaemia Mukt Bharat (2018) runs the 6x6x6 strategy with test-treat-talk and age-specific IFA dosing; the NIDDCP enforces the 15-ppm household iodine norm; Poshan Maah every September mobilises communities.
What you must remember
- ICDS (1975): anganwadi services for children under six, pregnant-lactating women and adolescent girls; nutrition norms commonly quoted as 500 kcal and 12-15 g protein for children, 600 kcal and 18-20 g for pregnant-lactating women; one anganwadi per 400-800 population by terrain.
- POSHAN Abhiyaan (8 March 2018): technology-guided (ICDS-CAS), aims to reduce stunting, undernutrition and low birth weight by 2 percentage points per year; behavioural change through Jan Andolan.
- POSHAN 2.0 (2021-22): merged Anganwadi Services + POSHAN Abhiyaan + Scheme for Adolescent Girls; extends nutritional support to adolescent girls aged 14-18 in identified districts; PoshanTracker replaces older apps; Saksham Anganwadi upgrades infrastructure.
- PM POSHAN (September 2021): the renamed mid-day meal, covering Balvatika to Class VIII; meal norms about 450 kcal and 12 g protein (primary) and 700 kcal and 20 g protein (upper primary).
- Anaemia Mukt Bharat (2018) and IFA doses: pregnant women — one IFA tablet daily of 100 mg elemental iron + 500 micrograms folic acid, starting the second trimester for 100 days, repeated; school-going adolescents — weekly IFA with biannual albendazole; children 6-60 months — biweekly IFA syrup; preschool and school children also receive age-appropriate prophylaxis.
- Vitamin A linkage: nine doses — 1 lakh IU at 9 months with MR-1, then 2 lakh IU six-monthly to 5 years.
- NIDDCP: iodised salt with at least 15 ppm at the household level (30 ppm at production); ban on sale of non-iodised salt for direct household consumption; IDD surveillance through salt testing at anganwadis.
- NFHS-5 baseline: stunting 35.5%, wasting 19.3%, underweight 32%, anaemia 67.1% in children 6-59 months and 57% in women 15-49 — worse than NFHS-4 on anaemia, better on stunting and wasting.
Following one pregnant woman through the nutrition net
A 22-year-old primigravida registers at eight weeks with a haemoglobin of 9.8 g/dL — moderate anaemia — so Anaemia Mukt Bharat's test-treat-talk logic begins: treated with daily IFA (100 mg elemental iron plus 500 micrograms folic acid for 100 days from the second trimester, repeated because she is anaemic), dewormed, and talked through family diet counselling, because tablets cannot outrun a cereal-poor plate. She draws take-home ration and hot cooked meals from the anganwadi; her weight is plotted on the MCP card. Her baby, born 2.6 kg, enters the ICDS register: breastfeeding support, monthly growth monitoring, biweekly IFA syrup from six months, measles-linked vitamin A at 9 months, iodised salt at the 15-ppm norm; a faltering weight flags severe acute malnutrition for rehabilitation referral, all tracked on PoshanTracker. One family, one net, every scheme named.
How the exam frames it
Consolidation questions dominate recent papers: what merged into POSHAN 2.0 (Anganwadi Services, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Scheme for Adolescent Girls) and when the mid-day meal became PM POSHAN (September 2021) — the naming layer examiners use to separate current reading from old guides. IFA dosing is the highest-yield number set: pregnant 100 mg plus 500 micrograms daily for 100 days; weekly for adolescents; biweekly syrup for 6-60 months. Vitamin A's nine doses, the 15-ppm salt norm, ICDS's 1975 origin and the anganwadi norms supply clean one-marks; calorie-protein norms appear as matching items. NFHS-5's 35.5/19.3/67 anchors the "why" against which 6x6x6 and POSHAN 2.0 are judged.
Frequently asked questions
Which schemes were merged into Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0?
Anganwadi Services, POSHAN Abhiyaan and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls, consolidated from 2021-22 with PoshanTracker-based monitoring and a widened focus on adolescent girls.
What IFA supplementation does a pregnant woman receive?
One tablet daily containing 100 mg elemental iron and 500 micrograms folic acid for at least 100 days starting in the second trimester, with a repeat course if anaemic.
What is the 6x6x6 strategy of Anaemia Mukt Bharat?
Six beneficiary groups, six interventions (including IFA, deworming, testing and fortified foods) and six institutional mechanisms, launched in 2018 with test-treat-talk at its core.
How much iodine should household salt contain under NIDDCP?
At least 15 parts per million at the household level (30 ppm at production), with the sale of non-iodised salt for direct consumption banned.
What are NFHS-5's headline child nutrition figures?
Stunting 35.5%, wasting 19.3% and underweight about 32% in under-fives, with anaemia in 67% of children 6-59 months — the baseline the current programmes target.