POSHAN Abhiyaan: Thematic POSHAN Maah to be celebrated in September 2021 – All you need to know

Thematic POSHAN Maah: The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry on August 29, 2021, announced that the 4^th POSHAN Maah will be celebrated as ‘Thematic POSHAN Maah’ across India throughout September 2021. The entire month of September will be sub-divided into weekly themes for a focused and assimilated approach towards improving Holistic Nutrition. Since 2018, every year, the POSHAN Maah is celebrated during September under the POSHAN Abhiyaan, also known as National Nutrition Mission.

The POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan was launched by PM Narendra Modi on March 8, 2018, in Rajasthan. The POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to make India a malnutrition-free country by 2022. The Abhiyaan aims to reduce stunting in children from 38.4 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022.

POSHAN Abhiyaan is a people’s movement that incorporates inclusive participation from government bodies, local bodies of states or UTs, social organizations, private sector, and the public at large. The Budget 2021-2022 included the announcement of Mission POSHAN 2.0 (Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0) as an integrated nutrition support prograame. The mission POSHAN 2.0 focuses on strengthening nutritional content, outreach, delivery, and outcomes by developing practices that improve health, wellness, and immune response to disease and malnutrition.

This year, as the country celebrates Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the WCD Ministry has planned a thematic approach to celebrate POSHAN Maah in September 2021.

Thematic POSHAN Maah in September 2021: Theme highlights

Thematic POSHAN Maah in September 2021: Key Activities

•Plantation Drive for POSHAN VATIKA across spaces available at Anganwadis, schools, Gram Panchayats, and other places which will include plantation of saplings of nutritious fruit trees, vegetables, and medicinal herbs and plants.

•Sensitization and awareness drive for COVID vaccination and Observance of COVID Protocols.

•Special drive for Height and Weight Measurement for children aged 6 years and below.

•Slogan writing and Recipe competitions to raise awareness about nutritious food for pregnant women.

•Sessions on ‘5-minute Yoga Protocol’ (Y-break or yoga break) across governmental and corporate bodies.

•Awareness campaign on the importance of regional and local food.

•Distribution of Nutrition Kits comprising of regional nutritious food including Sukadi-Gujrat, Panjiri- Punjab, Sattu- Bihar, Chikki- Maharashtra.

•Drive for block-wise Identification of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), supervised Supplementary Feeding Program for children up to 5 years old with SAM, and sensitization for Community Management of Acute Malnutrition and Distribution of nutritious food for children with SAM.

Who will organize and implement POSHAN Maah?

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) is the nodal ministry for organizing POSHAN Maah under the POSHAN Abhiyaan. Various partner ministries and departments will help with activities related to nutrition awareness across states and union territories up to the grass root levels.

These departments include Anganwadi workers, health and family welfare department through ASHA, ANM, primary health centres, community health centres, schools, and Panchayati Raj departments through panchayats, and Rural Development through Self-help Groups.

What is POSHAN Abhiyaan?

The POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan was launched by PM Narendra Modi on March 8, 2018, in Rajasthan. The Abhiyaan is India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant, women, and lactating mothers.

The POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to make India a malnutrition-free country by 2022. The Abhiyaan aims to reduce stunting in children from 38.4 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022.

Under the POSHAN Abhiyaan, the 1^st POSHAN Maah was celebrated in September 2018 with a special focus on Social Behavioural Change and Communication (SBCC). Themes included eating healthy – food fortification, hygiene and sanitation, right age of marriage, antenatal care, optimal breastfeeding, anaemia, and education of girls.

POSHAN Abhiyaan: Objectives and Targets

POSHAN Abhiyaan: Core Pillars

(i) Use of technology (ICT) for real-time growth monitoring (RTM) and tracking of the health status of women and children

(ii) Inter-sectoral convergence for better service delivery

(iii) Intensified health and nutrition services for the first 1000 days

(iv) Jan Andolan