Nutrition

UNICEF in action

© UNICEF India

Children enjoy a balanced meal as part of a supplementary nutrition programme.

UNICEF supports the Government in its objectives to reduce and prevent malnutrition, and to improve the development of children under three years old, especially those in marginalised groups.

The Government’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, reaches 34 million children aged 0–6 years and 7 million pregnant and nursing mothers. The world’s largest early childcare and development programme, it is designed to play a significant role in the improvement of early childcare.

UNICEF is assisting the Government to further expand and enhance the quality of ICDS in various ways: by improving the training of anganwadi (childcare) workers; by developing innovative communication approaches with mothers; helping to improve monitoring and reporting systems; providing essential supplies; by developing community-based early childcare interventions.

Vitamin A and anaemia programmes are strengthened through the provision of supplies, the training of field workers and the support of programme management. It encourages the universal use of adequately iodised salt by educating the general population and collaborating with the salt industry.

© UNICEF India

Girl eating roti.

The nutritional and development status of children under three years old is also improved through community-based early childcare interventions currently being implemented in seven states.

These interventions aim at bettering the care children get by educating their parents and communities.

For example, in Madhya Pradesh a big effort was made through a state-wide programme to identify all children who were malnourished. After weighing the children, those who were severely malnourished were identified for treatment, and all parents were given information on adequate feeding and child care.

As a result the number of severely malnourished children reduced by half. UNICEF continues to support the government in linking vitamin A supplementation and immunization services to these weighing and information provision sessions.

Bihar launches ICDS-IV
In a move slated to have extensive impact on the nutritional status of children in Bihar, the State Government launched a new phase of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Programme at a two-day workshop.

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