Despite seven years of POSHAN Abhiyaan India has only shown marginal improvement in reducing stunting and missed its target to reduce stunting among children.
What is Stunting?
- Definition: A stunted child is too short for his or her age due to chronic or recurrent malnutrition.
- It is a key indicator of child health and nutrition outcomes.
POSHAN Tracker
- The Poshan Tracker is a mobile-based application developed under the POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) to improve the nutritional status of children under 6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
- It serves as a key tool for real-time monitoring and tracking of Anganwadi Centers (AWCs), Anganwadi Workers (AWWs), and beneficiaries, ensuring efficient service delivery and last-mile tracking of nutrition support.
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Impact of Stunting
- Stunting in early life has adverse functional consequences on the child.
- Some of those consequences include poor cognition and educational performance, low adult wages, lost productivity, etc.
- When it is accompanied by excessive weight gain later in childhood it leads to an increased risk of nutrition-related chronic diseases in adult life.
- India’s Status
- In 2016, 38.4% of children under five were stunted.
- However, POSHAN Tracker data (June 2025) shows 37% stunted children, indicating minimal progress.
POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission)
- POSHAN Abhiyaan is India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
- It was launched to address under-nutrition, stunting, anemia, and low birth weight through convergence and technology-driven monitoring.
- Launch: March 2018.
- Targets under POSHAN Abhiyaan
- Stunting reduction by at least 2% per annum.
- Under-nutrition reduction by 2% per annum.
- Anaemia reduction by 3% per annum.
- Low birth weight reduction by 2% per annum.
- The ambitious goal under “Mission 25 by 2022” was to reduce stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022.
Phases of Implementation
- The mission was designed to be implemented in three phases from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
- It involved gradual scaling up of interventions supported by the World Bank-assisted ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) to all districts by 2022.
Mission POSHAN 2.0
- In 2021, the government merged POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anganwadi Services, and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls into Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 (Mission POSHAN 2.0).
Objectives of POSHAN 2.0
- To address malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
- To improve maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding practices, and treatment of moderate and severe acute malnutrition (MAM/SAM).
- To promote wellness through AYUSH, diet diversity, food fortification, and use of millets.
- To create a sustainable system of health and nutrition through community awareness and local food-based practices.
Key Components
- Nutritional Interventions: Supplementary nutrition through fortified rice (rolled out across all States/UTs from FY 2021-22).
- Mandatory inclusion of millets in Anganwadi meals at least once a week.
- Promotion of dietary diversification with dark green leafy vegetables, lentils, and vitamin-C rich fruits.
- ICT & Governance: Introduction of the Poshan Tracker (1st March 2021) for real-time monitoring of nutrition service delivery.
- Grievance Redressal Cell and National Poshan Helpline for beneficiary feedback.
- Aadhaar verification of over 90% of registered beneficiaries.
- Community Outreach: Large-scale social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) campaigns.
- Celebration of Rashtriya Poshan Maah (September) and Poshan Pakhwada (March) for community sensitization.
Achievements
- The mission rolled out across 36 States/UTs and 730 districts, including 112 Aspirational Districts.
- Establishment of over 4 lakh Poshan Vatikas (nutrition gardens) across India.
- Integration of Poshan Tracker with Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) portal for improved coordination.
- Recognition of best practices like Mission Sampurna Poshan (Telangana), Mera Bachcha Abhiyaan (Madhya Pradesh), and Project Sampoorna (Assam).
Progress in Nutrition Indicators (NFHS-5, 2019-21)
- Stunting reduced from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 35.5% (NFHS-5).
- Wasting reduced from 21% to 19.3%.
- Underweight prevalence declined from 35.7% to 32.1%.
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Reasons for Persistent Stunting Problem
- Maternal Health and Teenage Pregnancies: Nearly half of stunted children are small at birth, showing a direct link to maternal health.
- As of 2019–21, 7% of women aged 15–19 had begun childbearing.
- Adolescent mothers often face poor nutrition and inadequate capacity to care for infants.
- Education Gap: Data shows that 46% of children born to mothers with no schooling were stunted, compared to 26% among mothers with 12+ years of schooling.
- Educated mothers are more likely to access healthcare, delay early pregnancies, and ensure better nutrition.
- Increasing Caesarean Deliveries and low breastfeeding : C-section deliveries increased from 9% in 2005–06 to 22% in 2021.
- Surgical births disrupt immediate breastfeeding and deprive babies of colostrum.
- Only 64% of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed, with sharp divides between working-class and salaried women.
- Poor Diet Diversity: Indian diets, especially among poor households, are carbohydrate-heavy with limited protein or micronutrients. For example, in tribal communities, diets are dominated by rice and dal is consumed as little as once a month.
- Only 11% of children under two met the standard for a minimum acceptable diet (2019–21).
- Maternal and Child Anaemia: In 2019–21, 57% of women aged 15–49 and 67% of children under five were anaemic.
- Anaemia in mothers contributes to low birth weight and poor growth outcomes in children.
- Poor Sanitation and Unsafe Water: 19% of Indian households still practiced open defecation in 2019–21.
- Exposure to unsafe water and poor sanitation leads to frequent infections, worsening malnutrition.
- Malnourished children fall sick more often, further lowering nutrient absorption, creating a vicious cycle of infection and malnutrition.
Way Forward
- Strengthening Maternal Health: Focus on delaying teenage pregnancies and addressing maternal anaemia. Expand coverage of antenatal care and nutrition supplementation.
- Promoting Education for Girls: Ensure higher educational attainment among women to break the vicious cycle of deprivation.
- Nutrition Diversity and Access: Scale up access to protein and micronutrient-rich foods in public nutrition schemes.
- Improve minimum acceptable diet coverage for children under two years.
- Supporting Breastfeeding Mothers: Expand maternity leave and workplace breastfeeding support, particularly for informal workers.
- Raise awareness about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding.
- Sanitation and Water Access: Accelerate efforts to eradicate open defecation and provide safe drinking water. Improve interventions targeting gut health and infection prevention.
- Multi-Sectoral Strategy: Address stunting as a multi-dimensional problem involving health, education, sanitation, and nutrition.
- Better Implementation: Strengthen monitoring under POSHAN Abhiyaan and Poshan Tracker to ensure accountability.
Conclusion
Stunting in India reflects deep-rooted systemic deprivations from maternal health and education gaps to poor sanitation and nutrition. Without tackling these multi-sectoral challenges, India risks perpetuating an intergenerational cycle of malnutrition, poverty, and limited human capital development.
20 Aug 2025
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