Revisiting POSHAN Abhiyan with special Emphasis on Stunting

Abstract

The Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) Abhiyaan or National
Nutrition Mission was launched by the Government of India on March 8, 2018 in the Jhunjhunia District of
Rajasthan. POSHAN Abhiyan is India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes by
convergence, targeted approach and use of appropriate technology. To strengthen nutritional content,
delivery, outreach, and outcomes, Government has merged the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and
Poshan Abhiyan to launch Mission POSHAN 2.0. As India formulates POSHAN Abhiyaan 2.0, the use of
the stunting metric to measure the effect of current interventions needs to be reconsidered. It has been
emphasized that the stunting metric, due to its sensitivity to maternal height, cannot accurately assess the
extent of the current under-nutrition burden. Among the target indicators identified in POSHAN Abhiyaan,
stunting is least indicative of current nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive conditions.