[op-ed snap] Odisha’s strides in nutrition
Mains Paper 2,Poverty & Hunger
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following points are important :
Prelims level : Nothing much
Mains level : Case study from Orissa
Context
Odisha is one of the Empowered Action Group States or eight socio-economically backward states of India. It has done remarkably well in health and nutrition outcomes over the past two decades.
Outcomes
Its infant mortality rate has significantly declined.
Its under-five mortality rate almost halved in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 from NFHS-3.
It has seen a steep decline in stunting in children under five.
Anaemia in children and pregnant women has also decreased since NFHS-3.
Antenatal care and institutional deliveries have shown good improvement.
Nutritional interventions
Nutrition has a strong correlation to health and is integral to growth and development.
Timely nutritional interventions of breastfeeding, age-appropriate complementary feeding, Vitamin A supplementation, and full immunisation are effective in improving nutrition outcomes in children.
A nutrition action plan based on convergence – with health, nutrition, and WASH programmes.
Decentralising the procurement of supplementary nutrition under the Integrated Child Development Services programme. This has led to fair access to services under the ICDS by all beneficiaries.
A rise in utilisation of services under the ICDS as compared to a decade ago.
Supplementary nutrition – There has been a marked improvement in supplementary nutrition received by pregnant and lactating women in NFHS-4 compared to NFHS-3.
Malnutrition
Despite progress in child and maternal indicators, Odisha continues to be plagued by a high level of malnutrition.
Stunting – There is stark variability across districts in stunting ranging from as high as 47.5% in Subarnapur to a low of 15.3% in Cuttack.
Wasting is high in 25 out of the 30 districts. Almost half of the under-five children from tribal communities in Odisha are underweight, and 46% are stunted.
The infant mortality rate among tribals is the fourth highest in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Reduced supplementary food – food given under the ICDS programme has shown a significant increase. Less of such food is given as children grow older.
Feeding – There is also a decline is children receiving timely complementary feeding. Less than 10% of children receive a minimum acceptable diet. This can be attributed to a lack of understanding and awareness about nutrition due to illiteracy.
PVTGs
Another challenge for Odisha is in reaching out to remote and particularly vulnerable tribal groups.
This could be the reason why tribal women and children are lagging behind the national average on nutrition and health indicators.
Way ahead
It is essential to improve the implementation of schemes and ensure last-mile delivery of nutrition services.
A part of the solution lies in setting up mini Anganwadi centres catering to far-flung tribal hamlets.
Raising awareness through community campaigns on the need for good nutrition would help improve the utilisation of services by beneficiaries.
The International Food Policy Research Institute called for inter-department engagements to accelerate the nutrition outcome in Odisha.
There is a need to improve sanitation, women’s education and underlying poverty to tackle undernutrition.
Underweight children should also be identified precisely so that the monitoring mechanism for improving service delivery can be strengthened.
The National Nutrition Mission sets an example with its inter-ministerial convergence and real-time monitoring mechanism for tracking each beneficiary and tackling malnutrition.
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Mains Paper 2,Poverty & Hunger
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following points are important :
Prelims level : Nothing much
Mains level : Case study from Orissa
Context
Odisha is one of the Empowered Action Group States or eight socio-economically backward states of India. It has done remarkably well in health and nutrition outcomes over the past two decades.
Outcomes
Its infant mortality rate has significantly declined.
Its under-five mortality rate almost halved in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 from NFHS-3.
It has seen a steep decline in stunting in children under five.
Anaemia in children and pregnant women has also decreased since NFHS-3.
Antenatal care and institutional deliveries have shown good improvement.
Nutritional interventions
Nutrition has a strong correlation to health and is integral to growth and development.
Timely nutritional interventions of breastfeeding, age-appropriate complementary feeding, Vitamin A supplementation, and full immunisation are effective in improving nutrition outcomes in children.
A nutrition action plan based on convergence – with health, nutrition, and WASH programmes.
Decentralising the procurement of supplementary nutrition under the Integrated Child Development Services programme. This has led to fair access to services under the ICDS by all beneficiaries.
A rise in utilisation of services under the ICDS as compared to a decade ago.
Supplementary nutrition – There has been a marked improvement in supplementary nutrition received by pregnant and lactating women in NFHS-4 compared to NFHS-3.
Malnutrition
Despite progress in child and maternal indicators, Odisha continues to be plagued by a high level of malnutrition.
Stunting – There is stark variability across districts in stunting ranging from as high as 47.5% in Subarnapur to a low of 15.3% in Cuttack.
Wasting is high in 25 out of the 30 districts. Almost half of the under-five children from tribal communities in Odisha are underweight, and 46% are stunted.
The infant mortality rate among tribals is the fourth highest in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Reduced supplementary food – food given under the ICDS programme has shown a significant increase. Less of such food is given as children grow older.
Feeding – There is also a decline is children receiving timely complementary feeding. Less than 10% of children receive a minimum acceptable diet. This can be attributed to a lack of understanding and awareness about nutrition due to illiteracy.
PVTGs
Another challenge for Odisha is in reaching out to remote and particularly vulnerable tribal groups.
This could be the reason why tribal women and children are lagging behind the national average on nutrition and health indicators.
Way ahead
It is essential to improve the implementation of schemes and ensure last-mile delivery of nutrition services.
A part of the solution lies in setting up mini Anganwadi centres catering to far-flung tribal hamlets.
Raising awareness through community campaigns on the need for good nutrition would help improve the utilisation of services by beneficiaries.
The International Food Policy Research Institute called for inter-department engagements to accelerate the nutrition outcome in Odisha.
There is a need to improve sanitation, women’s education and underlying poverty to tackle undernutrition.
Underweight children should also be identified precisely so that the monitoring mechanism for improving service delivery can be strengthened.
The National Nutrition Mission sets an example with its inter-ministerial convergence and real-time monitoring mechanism for tracking each beneficiary and tackling malnutrition.
🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁
Join >> @IAS4India
Join >> @SSC4Exams
Join >> @Banking4Exams
Join >> @UPSC4Exams
Join >> @TheHindu_Zone_Official
🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁
For paid promotion
Contact @IAS4India_bot