What is the need for reforms to promote nutrition in India ?

• Although India has made sizeable economic and social gain over the last two decades, the challenge of maternal and child undernutrition remains a national public health concern.
• India is home to over 40 million stunted and 17 million wasted children under five years.
• Despite a marked trend of improvement in a variety of anthropometric measures of nutrition over last 10 years, child undernutrition rates persist as among the highest in the world.
• The inequality in the nutritional status also varies from state to state.
• The significant investments in the human resources pertaining to the health sector is the need of the hour.

What are the policy interventions needed to be incorporated ?

• The National Food Security Act, 2013 can be used effectively to overcome the calorie deficiency.
• The increase in milk and milk products must be concentrated so that the protein hunger can be eliminated.
• The hidden hunger caused by the micro nutrient deficiency can be met out by the establishment of genetic gardens of bio fortified plants and promoting a Farming System for Nutrition Program
• The other factors like ensuring the availability of clean drinking water, sanitation and primary health care also should be done to remove nutritional deficiency.
• We need to develop a cadre of Community Hunger Fighters who are well versed with the art and science of malnutrition eradication for better community awareness and participation.
• ICDS needs to be in mission mode with special attention to nutrition, with the additional sanction of adequate financial resources and decision making authority.
• Last mile delivery of ICDS interventions needs to standardise the nutritional component of supplementary food, prioritise educational outreach to pregnant and lactating mothers, improve program targeting and streamline operations of AWCs through better infrastructure provision and training for AWWs.
• Currently the mandatory fortification is limited to the salt only and additional guidelines are need to fortify the additional food products to enrich the micro nutrient consumption among the citizens.
• The standards of hot cooked meals should also be changed to using only fortified inputs which will help in providing sufficient calories and micro nutrients to large number of children under five.
• The push for the toilet construction must be combined with a strategy for behavioural change, so that the other drivers contributing to the hidden hunger can be eliminated.
• The agricultural policy must be brought in tune with nutrition policy, with incentives provided for encouraging the production of nutrient rich and local crops for self consumption.
• Efforts should be made to reduce current distortions in agricultural incentives and to discourage the cultivation of resource rich cash crops with no nutrient value, such as sugarcane and cotton.
• Agriculture and cropping pattern must focus on securing diet quality for infants and young children.
• The Government should allow PPPs in the sector that can leverage technological solutions for scaling up food fortification initiatives and complement the government's outreach efforts through mass awareness.