POSHAN Abhiyaan

Indian Economy glossary

Also called: National Nutrition Mission, Poshan Abhiyan · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission, launched in 2018) is India's flagship mission against malnutrition. It aims to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anaemia and low birth weight among young children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating (breastfeeding) mothers. It was later merged into Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0.

It matters because nutrition is the base of human capital. A child who is poorly fed in the first 1,000 days of life grows into a less healthy, less productive adult. Without good nutrition, India's young population cannot become a demographic dividend.

Explanation

What problem it targets

  • Malnutrition means too little, too much or the wrong mix of nutrients. It has three parts:
  • undernutrition: stunting, wasting and underweight;
  • micronutrient deficiency (a shortage of vitamins and minerals such as iron, vitamin A and iodine);

  • overweight and obesity.

  • India has all three at the same time. This is called the triple burden of malnutrition.

  • Children are measured against WHO growth standards. A child counts as affected if they fall below −2 standard deviations from the median (well below the normal range for their age).
Measure Compares Shows
Stunting Height for age Chronic (long-term) undernutrition
Wasting Weight for height Acute (recent) undernutrition
Underweight Weight for age A mix of both
  • Worked example (NFHS-5, 2019-21): stunting was 35.5%. Out of every 100 children under 5, about 35 or 36 were too short for their age. Wasting was 19.3%, so about 19 of every 100 were too thin for their height.

Why nutrition is a human capital issue

  • The chain from poor food to low income
  • Poor food in the first 1,000 days (from conception to age 2) → weaker brain development.
  • Weaker brain development → poorer learning and irregular school attendance.

  • Poorer learning → lower productivity and lower lifetime earnings.

  • Class 8 makes the same link: good health supports cognitive development (the growth of thinking and learning ability).

  • Health spending is one of the two major sources of human capital formation. Nutrition is the preventive base of that spending.

Components and allied tools

  • Anganwadi platform: anganwadi centres are village-level centres for child care and nutrition. They are the main delivery point for food, growth monitoring and counselling.
  • Poshan Tracker: an app that monitors anganwadi services in real time.
  • Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB, 2018) runs under POSHAN Abhiyaan. It uses a 6×6×6 framework and targets six beneficiary groups.
  • Convergence (bringing schemes together): POSHAN works with related schemes:
  • PM POSHAN (school meals, which replaced the Mid-Day Meal scheme in 2021);

  • rice fortification (adding nutrients such as iron to rice) in the PDS and welfare schemes.

  • 2.0 stage: POSHAN Abhiyaan was merged into Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, which brings anganwadi services and nutrition support into one programme.

What makes outcomes better or worse

  • Better: women's education, clean water and sanitation, good feeding in the first 1,000 days, and tests that find the real cause of anaemia.
  • Worse: repeated infections, poor diets, low iron intake, and causes that iron alone cannot fix, such as inherited blood disorders.

In India

  • Nodal ministry: the Ministry of Women and Child Development runs the mission through anganwadis. MoHFW runs the health side, including the NFHS (National Family Health Survey).
  • NFHS-5 (2019-21), children under 5: stunting 35.5%, wasting 19.3%, underweight 32.1%, overweight 3.4%.
  • Anaemia, NFHS-5: 67% of children (6–59 months) and 57% of women (15–49).
  • Women's anaemia went up: from 53.1% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 57.0% (NFHS-5, 2019-21), though some States/UTs recorded declines.
  • Read with care: AMB began in 2018 and NFHS-5 fieldwork ran 2019–21. So NFHS-5 captures only the early years of the programme, and those years overlapped with COVID-19.
  • Wider health context:
  • Government health spending is about 1.8% of GDP (National Health Accounts 2021-22).

  • The target in NHP 2017 is 2.5% of GDP by 2025.

  • Next data point: NFHS-6 is due. It will be the first big test of Poshan 2.0.

Don't confuse with

  • PM POSHAN: the school meal scheme for schoolchildren (it replaced the Mid-Day Meal scheme in 2021). POSHAN Abhiyaan is the wider nutrition mission for young children, adolescent girls and mothers, delivered mainly through anganwadis.
  • Anaemia Mukt Bharat: a strategy against anaemia only (6×6×6, 2018). It runs under POSHAN Abhiyaan and is not a separate parent mission.
  • Stunting vs wasting: stunting is low height for age and shows chronic undernutrition. Wasting is low weight for height and shows acute undernutrition.
  • Food fortification: one tool, such as fortified rice or double-fortified salt (iodine + iron). POSHAN is the whole mission, which uses many tools.

Prelims Hooks

  • POSHAN Abhiyaan = National Nutrition Mission, launched in 2018. It was later merged into Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0.
  • Anaemia Mukt Bharat (2018) uses the 6×6×6 framework, runs under POSHAN Abhiyaan and targets six groups.
  • NFHS-5 (2019–21, MoHFW): stunting 35.5%, wasting 19.3%, underweight 32.1%; women's anaemia 57.0% (NFHS-4: 53.1%).
  • Trap: "Stunting is measured as weight for age". FALSE. It is height for age. Weight for age is underweight.
  • Trap: "PM POSHAN is the new name of POSHAN Abhiyaan". FALSE. PM POSHAN is the school meal scheme that replaced the Mid-Day Meal scheme in 2021.
  • Poshan Tracker is an app for real-time monitoring of anganwadi centres.

Mains Points

  • Nutrition decides whether India's young population becomes a dividend or a burden.
  • 65% of Indians are below 35 (ES 2024).
  • But stunted children, 35.5% in NFHS-5, become low-productivity workers.

  • So spending on the first 1,000 days is investment in human capital, not just welfare.

  • More programmes have not reversed every trend.

  • Women's anaemia rose from 53.1% to 57.0% between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5.
  • Some States still improved, which shows that delivery matters more than the design on paper.

  • The fix is targeted nutrition, tests that find the cause of anaemia, and learning from the States that improved.

  • Policy coherence in fortification (making sure two policies do not work against each other).

  • Double-fortified salt needs people to eat salt steadily, while the NCD (non-communicable disease) plan seeks a 30% relative reduction in salt intake.
  • WHO advises that salt reduction and salt fortification be coordinated closely.
  • So iron is better delivered through AMB's six target groups than through everyone's salt.

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