Abstract
Despite India’s progress in launching and scaling up programs aimed at achieving optimal child nutrition over the last decade, India fell short of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. This chapter reviews existing national level programs that address child nutrition, details their performance, and recommends changes that can enhance their impact on child nutrition. Specifically, we identify challenges and opportunities in the implementation and operation of national level programs, which currently function in silos and lack a cohesive coordinating strategy. This chapter also documents the palpable interest in advancing maternal and child health through national policy, advocacy, and social engagement that pervades India.
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Abbreviations
- ASHA:
-
Accredited Social Health Activists
- ICDS:
-
Integrated Child Development Services
- MAA:
-
Mothers Absolute Affection
- NHM:
-
National Health Mission
- NRC:
-
Nutritional Rehabilitation Centers
- NREGA:
-
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
- NRHM:
-
National Rural Health Mission
- ORS:
-
Oral Rehydration Salts
- PDS:
-
Public Distribution System
- PRISM:
-
Practical, Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model
- UNICEF:
-
United Nationals International Children’s Emergency Fund
- WHO:
-
World Health Organization
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Soni, A., Masoud, S., Bhutta, Z. (2018). National Programs and Policies to Address Child Malnutrition in India: Challenges and Opportunities. In: Preedy, V., Patel, V. (eds) Handbook of Famine, Starvation, and Nutrient Deprivation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40007-5_101-1
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