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Integration                                                                                                                                                                 after and feed toddlers, and the mid-day meal scheme
                                                                                                                                                                                      at schools to ensure that children get at least one full
                                                                                                                                                                                      nutritious meal. These programs have been successful
                                                                                                                                                                                      to a large extent. The efforts are in the right direction
                                                                                                                                                                                      but the efforts will yield results only when we combine
          of MIYCN &                                                                                                                                                                  them with serious attention to bring linkages between
                                                                                                                                                                                      birth spacing family planning methods and other
                                                                                                                                                                                      nutrition-sensitive interventions.


          Birth Spacing                                                                                                                                                               Poor maternal nutrition leads to poor birth outcomes.
                                                                                                                                                                                      Short pregnancy intervals are associated with an
                                                                                                                                                                                      increased risk of infants being born preterm, small-
                                                                                                                                                                                      for-gestational-age, and with low birth weight,
          to Maximise                                                                                                                                                                 all of which are associated with key indicators of
                                                                                                                                                                                      childhood undernutrition, including wasting, stunting,
                                                                                                                                                                                      underweight, and anaemia. Evidence shows that short
                                                                                                                                                                                      birth interval is associated with adverse nutritional
                                                                                                                                                                                      outcomes for the mother or the child. Birth too closely
          Opportunities                                                                                                                                                               also affects the nutrition outcomes of all children in
                                                                                                                                                                                      the family when the mother’s ability to adequately care
                                                                                                                                                                                      for and feed her children is compromised due to too

                                                                                                                                                                                      of time and resources to provide adequate nutritious
                                                                                                                                 notable shift in the future. By 2050, India’s population   many young children to breastfeed at one time and lack
                                                                                                                                 is projected to surge to 1668 million (1.668 billion),   food and care for all children. We know that adolescent
                                                                                                                                 surpassing China’s projected decline to 1317 million   pregnancy can result in adverse nutritional outcomes
          - By Dr. Sujeet Ranjan
                                                                                                                                 (1.317 billion). This trend of India surpassing China has   for both the mother and the foetus, with an increased
                                                                                                                                 been anticipated for some time, though the expediting   risk of adverse perinatal outcomes such as preterm
                                                                                                                                 factor lies in China’s slowing population growth. Earlier   birth, low birth weight, and small-for-gestational-age.
          Integration of birth                         he issue of             planning with nutrition programs in               this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in
          spacing family                               undernutrition which    India.                                            China reported a decrease of 850,000 individuals in   Integration of family planning and reproductive health
                                                       affects survival,
                                                                                                                                                                                      services in nutrition programming, an important
                                                                                                                                 2022 compared to the previous year.
          planning services                 T productivity, and                According to the recent World                                                                          intervention, is often overlooked. To date, there has
                                                       development, health,
                                                                               Population report released by
          in nutrition                      economic growth is a complex       UNFPA, India has surpassed China                  India has an enormous problem of malnourishment,     been limited documentation on integrating family
                                                                                                                                                                                      planning with nutrition programs in India. I was part
                                                                                                                                 being home to almost 25% of the world’s malnourished
          programming, an                   and multi-dimensional issue.       in terms of population, with India                children. A study by the International Food Policy   of a study program where we put an effort to fill the
                                            The multidimensional effects
                                                                               currently estimated at 142.86 crore
                                                                                                                                                                                      evidence gap in this area, and conducted a preliminary
          important public                  of malnutrition make nutrition     (1.4286 billion) and China at 142.57              Research Institute (IFPRI) shows that child marriages   review including an evaluation of programs that have
                                                                                                                                 and underage pregnancies are making a sizeable
          health                            interventions imperative to        crore (1.4257 billion). This significant          contribution to this problem, drawing a clear correlation   integrated family planning and nutrition, success stories
                                                                                                                                                                                      thereof, and plausible strategies to link the two.
                                            incorporate a multi-sectoral and
                                                                               shift in population dynamics marks
                                                                                                                                 to the undernutrition of children born to adolescent
          intervention, is                  integrated development approach.   a significant milestone. To provide               mothers. Researchers from IFPRI analysed the data
          often overlooked                  Public health studies say that     context, in 1990, China’s population              relating to more than 60,000 first-time mothers across   The study was divided into two broad components:
                                                                                                                                                                                      a) Literature Review and b) Secondary Data Analysis.
                                            birth spacing plays an important
                                                                               stood at 1144 million (1.144
                                                                                                                                 the country from the National Family Health Survey.
                                            role in nutritional status among   billion), while India’s population was                                                                 Through literature review, we captured studies
                                            children under 5 years of age, with   861 million. As of last year, China            The recent data from National Family Health Survey   that show the influence of family planning (FP) on
                                            shorter birth intervals increasing   remained the most populous country              (NFHS) - 5 reveals that India should more than ever   maternal and child nutrition outcomes around the
                                            the risk of both stunting and      globally, with 1426 million people,               focus on nutrition as it has not fared well. India   world, programs that integrated FP and nutrition, their
                                            being underweight. However,        closely followed by India with                    has a number of programs aimed at bringing down      challenges, and success stories. Whereas, secondary
                                            to date, there has been limited    1412 million. However, the United                 malnutrition – the Integrated Child Development      data analysis was carried out to study the current
                                            documentation on integrating family   Nations’ 2022 projections indicate a           Scheme, the system of Anganwadi creches to look      status of nutrition and family planning indicators


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