Two out of every five children in India under the age of 5 are stunted and half of the women are reported to be anaemic. Furthermore, the World Bank data indicates that India has one of the world’s highest demographics of children suffering from malnutrition, reportedly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa. These figures highlight the worrying nutrition situation in the  country and the urgent need for action.

Towards addressing this "silent emergency" the Government of India launched the National Nutrition Mission referred to as the Poshan Abhiyan in early 2018. The National Nutrition Mission targets to reduce stunting at 2% per year, aiming to, in total, reduce stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (known as Mission 25 by 2022).

The National Institution for Transforming India, also known as NITI Aayog, is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, providing both directional and policy inputs. While designing strategic and long-term policies and programmes for the Government of India, NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre and States. ENN met Mr Alok Kumar, NITI Aayog’s Health and Nutrition Advisor earlier this month and spoke to him about the National Nutrition Mission. In this video interview, he told us more about the role of the NITI Aayog in monitoring the National Nutrition Mission, the key challenges of administering nutrition services within a large and diverse country as well as discussing the roles of various stakeholders who are being brought on board to ensure the success of this ambitious mission.

This video is featured just as the National Nutrition Month - "Poshan Maah" was celebrated in  September, with great energy and drive across the country. ENN looks forward to capturing many more success stories and innovations in relation to this Mission and beyond.