7th Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2024

• 06 Sep 2024

Source: PIB

Why in News?

Recently, the Ministry of Women and Child Development launched the Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2024 in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh on 1st September 2024.

• Also, the Ministry of Women and Child Development received the National Award for e-Governance 2024 (Gold) for the Poshan Tracker initiative. 

National Awards for e-Governance

• The awards are presented annually, since 2003, by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
• Purpose of Award: 
  • Recognize achievements in the area of e-Governance.
  • Disseminate knowledge on effective methods of designing and implementing sustainable e-Governance initiatives.
  • Encourage incremental innovations in successful e-Governance solutions.
  • Promote and exchange experiences in solving problems, mitigating risks, resolving issues and planning for success.
• All Central Ministries/Departments, State/UT Governments, Districts, Local Bodies, Central & State Government PSUs, Academic/Research Institutions (Government and Non –Government) are eligible to apply for these awards.

What is Rashtriya Poshan Maah?

• About Rashtriya Poshan Maah: It is an annual campaign aimed at addressing malnutrition and promoting better nutrition and health practices.
  • It is celebrated in the month of September every year under Poshan Abhiyan (PM’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment).
• Key Focus Areas: It focuses on enhancing awareness about nutrition, improving dietary practices, and combating malnutrition among vulnerable groups, including children, adolescents, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. 
  • It is in line with the national vision of a ‘Suposhit Bharat.’
• Activities: Various activities are conducted, such as plantation drives, distribution of nutritional supplements, community outreach programs, exhibitions, and educational sessions. 
  • E.g., Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2024 began with a nationwide plantation drive titled “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam”.
• Key Themes of Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2024: Anaemia, Growth Monitoring, Complementary Feeding, Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi, Technology for Better Governance, and Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam.

What is POSHAN Abhiyaan?

• About: It was launched in March 2018  to address malnutrition by focusing on the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children up to 6 years old.
  • It is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. 
• Objectives: It targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
  • Targeting children aged 0-6 years to reduce stunting and underweight prevalence.
  • Reducing Anaemia prevalence among young children (6-59 months) and among women and adolescent girls aged 15-49 years.
• Components of POSHAN Abhiyaan:
  • Village Health Sanitation Nutrition Day (VHSND): It promotes coordination through target-setting, sector meetings, and decentralised planning. 
  • ICDS-CAS (Common Application Software): It employs software and growth monitoring tools to track nutritional status. 

What is Poshan Tracker?

• It is a mobile app that tracks and monitors the health and nutrition of children and pregnant women in India.
• It serves as an essential tool for Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) that reflects the progress and impact of their interventions and enables real-time monitoring.
• It is an interactive tool that measures a child's growth using World Health Organization (WHO) standards and provides suggestions for corrective action based on the inputs.
• AWWs can register 6 types of beneficiaries:
  • Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, Children between 0-6 months, Children between 6 months to 3 years, Children between 3-6 years and Adolescent Girls aged 14-18 years (specifically for Aspirational Districts).

Anaemia

• It is characterised by a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or a reduced concentration of haemoglobin within these cells. 

  • Haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells, is essential for oxygen transport throughout the body.

• Cause: Inadequate intake or absorption of essential nutrients, notably iron, but also including folate, vitamins B12, and vitamin A, is a significant cause.
• Global Prevalence: An estimated 40% of children aged 6–59 months and approximately 37% of pregnant women suffer from anaemia.
• Prevalence in India: According to the NFHS 5 (2019-21), it affects 31.1% of adolescent boys (15-19 years), 59.1% of adolescent girls, 52.2% of pregnant women (15-49 years), and 67.1% of children (6-59 months).

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Prelims

Q. Which of the following are the objectives of ‘National Nutrition Mission’? (2017)

1. To create awareness relating to malnutrition among pregnant women and lactating mothers.
2. To reduce the incidence of anaemia among young children, adolescent girls and women.
3. To promote the consumption of millets, coarse cereals and unpolished rice.
4. To promote the consumption of poultry eggs.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only 

(b) 1, 2 and 3 only

(c) 1, 2 and 4 only 

(d) 3 and 4 only

Ans: (a)

Q. Which of the following is/are the indicator/indicators used by IFPRI to compute the Global  Hunger Index Report? (2016)

1. Undernourishment
2. Child stunting
3. Child mortality

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only 

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1, 2 and 3 

(d) 1 and 3 only

Ans: (c)