States show the way on addressing wasting at community level

Undernutrition among children less than 5 years is a key factor for child morbidity and mortality. In India, severe wasting, is seen in 8 per cent of children under the age of 5 years. (NFHS-5, 2019-2021). To address the issue, several states have adopted a community-based approach tailored to the state context.  A  “ Two days National Consultation on Addressing Acute Malnutrition” was held in October 2021 to gather experiences and evidence from 13 states of India. In the latest issue of PoshanWeekly, we bring you the new publication and comprehensive report of the consultation that highlight the following lessons learnt :

• Capacity building on community-based management of wasting: Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh used different approaches to build capacity ranging from hybrid trainings, cascade one to one trainings and remote trainings.
• Strengthening screening for wasting: Initiatives by Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka for strengthening nutritional screening included ensuring accuracy, availability of growth monitoring devices and community mobilization.
• Nutrition care for children with wasting: Nutrient-dense food was offered in community settings in different states of India.
• Management of under-6 months old infants with early growth failure: Success stories from Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal, highlighted the importance of services for under 6 months old infants.
• Mainstreaming community management of wasting through existing government systems: Madhya Pradesh streamlined monitoring and reporting through SAMPARK application. Rajasthan also shared implementation modalities of Acute Malnutrition Management and Action (AMMA) program.
• Prevention of wasting: This requires a multisectoral approach, convergence and life cycle approach to break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition that must start from adolescence period.
• Tracking progress: several states have devised applications for data entry and automated computation of anthropometric z scores for correct classification of child’s nutritional status.

We hope that the innovative work done being done in our states inspires you and helps in building on the efforts to preventing and managing wasting among children at scale and for every child with wasting in India.