Malnourished mothers tend to give birth to malnourished children and the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry is trying to address this problem through a number of schemes, the Lok Sabha was told Friday.
Calling malnourishment a complex problem, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Ministry Virendra Kumar said it required a convergence of various sectors and a multi-dimensional and inter-generational solution.
"In order to address this problem, this ministry is implementing schemes like Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojna under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme as direct targeted interventions," he said.
The problem of malnutrition is complex, multi-dimensional and inter-generational in nature, and requires convergence of various sectors, he said in a written response.
He said it has been seen through research that malnourished mothers tend to give birth to malnourished children.
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In order to ensure convergence of these nutrition-related and those of health and other nutrition-impacting schemes, the government has started the Poshan Abhiyaan, which consists of a robust convergence action plan, Kumar said.
Poshan Abhiyaan aims to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia among children, women and adolescent girls along with reducing low birth weight in the country in a time-bound manner, he added.
Under the scheme, September was celebrated as the Poshan maah (month) and it witnessed a plethora of events and festivities at field level which accounted for more than 22 lakh activities leading to participation of 25 crore plus individuals across the country, Kumar said in response to another question.
"One of the most encouraging outcomes of the Poshan Maah has been the success in achieving convergence at all levels. The month logged 4.8 lakh converged activities across ministries and 32 per cent of all activities (22 lakh plus) were carried out by field functionaries (AWWs, ASHAs, ANMs, SHGs)," he said.
The minister said the Community Radio Stations (CRSs) proved to be an effective medium in building local content, communicating in local dialects and connecting with remote communities.
The Poshan Maah gave 100 Community Radios an opportunity to come together and demonstrate their strength and competence in disseminating information on issues of nutrition.
He said the government has also launched a toll free helpline (14408) as a follow-up and intervention mechanism.
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