Child Nutrition in India: Understanding the Policy Ecosystem

This chapter provides an overview of India’s national policies on child nutrition, tracing the evolution from the constitutional mandate to the current nutrition policy framework. India’s approach to nutrition has transitioned over the decades, initially focusing on food security to a more integrated and holistic perspective on addressing malnutrition. This chapter explores the progression of national policies and programs, from the establishment of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in 1975, to the launch of Poshan Abhiyaan in 2018, finally progressing toward the merger of Poshan Abhiyaan with ICDS into Mission Poshan 2.0. Thereafter, this chapter describes the various components of Mission Poshan 2.0, which emphasizes the use of technology, convergence, supplementary nutrition, dietary diversity, governance, and infrastructure while retaining the focus on child nutrition. It also discusses the crucial role of policy coordination with different intersectoral programs and the need for alignment with the global agenda. Finally, this chapter explains how addressing current challenges through improved utilization of data for decision-making, convergence between health and nutrition, increased resource allocation, and community mobilization are critical in reducing child malnutrition and meeting India’s national Poshan agenda.