Poshan Abhiyaan: A Panacea for the Challenge of Confronting Malnutrition
Introduction
Widespread malnutrition has beset the country of India and many men, women and children have suffered as a consequence with regards to health as well as development. To deal with this, Poshan Abhiyaan (National nutrition enlightened) was launched by the Indian Government on 8th March, 2018. This program seeks to address the issues of stunting, underweight and anemia among children & women. It takes a multi-dimensional approach by including stakeholders from different backgrounds and making use of technology to provide the wholistic nutrition.
Objectives
The first among the primary objectives of Poshan Abhiyaan is the following
- Elimination of Nutritional Deficiencies: Aiming reduction of childhood and maternal stunting, undernourishment and anemia.
- Balanced Diet: Encouraging people to develop appropriate eating patterns and have access to food that has nutritional value.
- Awareness Creation and Participation: Inviting members of the society to be mobilized through Jan Andolan.
Jan Andolan: The People’s Movement
Jan Andolan or the people’s movement is one of the fundamental aspects of Poshan Abhiyaan. This certainly targets community participation and feeds into the overarching goal of better nutrition. Activities ranging from competitions, workshops and community events are conducted to get the people involved in the mission.
Key Features of Poshan Abhiyaan
- Convergence with Various Ministries: The implementation of Poshan Abhiyaan is accomplished with the help of various Ministries like Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare, Education, etc., which provides more effective solution to the problem of malnutrition.
- Technology-Driven Approach: Tracking of nutritional status of beneficiaries in real time of the mission which has been made more intensive is supplemented through the use of a strong Poshan Tracker. This digital tool provides a range of activities focusing more on data entry and tracking of the progress of the mission.
- Community Involvement via Jan Andolan: Jan Andolan (People’s Movement) is one of the important aspects of Poshan Abhiyaan and works at the grassroots level and works towards changing the mindset of people. The activities of Jan Andolan include all health sanitation nutrition day activities organized on the 5th of each month, community health and nutrition social marketing, and multifaceted events.
- Integration with ICDS: The Mission is aligned with Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, which ensures that even the needy population gets the nutritional support.
Impact and Achievements
Since Poshan Abhiyaan’s inception, its remarkable health improvement on nutrition outcomes is summarized as follows.
- Reduction in Malnutrition Rates: Persons with Disabilities Program performed remarkably in improving the nutrition of children and women.
- Increased Awareness: Growing concern on nutritional status and healthy eating.
- Community Engagement: The communities have been engaged in a number of activities and campaigns.
How to Get Involved Individuals and communities can get involved in Poshan Abhiyaan in different ways.
- Poshan Tracker: Create an account on the site and use the platform for data entry as well as monitoring.
- Poshan Pakhwada: Attend the numerous events and carry out key activities within the two weeks.
- Poshaan Maah: Carry out activities and campaigns organized during a month long celebration.
- Nutri-Gardens: Initiate and tend kitchen gardens to encourage healthy consumption of food.
FAQs about Poshan Abhiyaan
Q: What is Jan Andolan?
A: The people’s movement under Poshan Abhiyaan is called as Jan andolan which involves the participation of the society and active people in awareness and other nutritionally related behavioral changes.
Q: What are Poshan Pakhwada and Poshan Maah?
A: The Poshan Pakhwada is a nutrition fortnight observed in March every year devoted to other related themes. The month of september is celebrated as Poshan Maah, also called the Nutrition Month with activities aimed at nutrition with healthy images.
Q: Who are the users of Poshan Abhiyaan Portal?
A: The portal helps beneficiaries, stakeholders, ASHAs, anganwadi workers and everyone who is engaged in the
