Autorentext

Vandana Prasad is a community pediatrician and public health professional who has been engaged with the social sector for over 30 years. Her main experience and expertise are in the area of malnutrition, health systems, tribal health, community processes, and child rights.

Arti Ahuja is a retired IAS officer and former union secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Government of India. She has held various senior-level positions in the Government of India over a career spanning 34 years. She has steered implementation as well as policymaking in different positions in Odisha, the National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, and in the Union Government, including in the Health Ministry of the Government of India during the COVID pandemic.

Klappentext

This book engages with the critical issue of nutrition and its relationship with the full spectrum of human development challenges in India. It examines concerns around both undernutrition and overnutrition through a range of case studies, documenting key interventions and strategies implemented by governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders.

The book broadly discusses macroeconomic and social issues affecting India's progress in addressing nutrition challenges, linking them to mesoand micro-level factors-from food and health systems to grassroots realities. It explores not only policy imperatives but, more importantly, the processes and mechanisms necessary to achieve them. Special attention is given to the role of women and women's collectives, the importance of comprehensive, decentralized, and community-based approaches to improving nutrition among the most vulnerable, and the critical life phases that require targeted interventions. The volume also presents large-scale, state-led, and statewide models and strategies, offering valuable insights for policymakers, governments, and institutions grappling with similar issues.

Part of the Innovations, Practice and the Future of Public Policy in India series, this open access volume will interest policy professionals, administrators, academics, and researchers working in public health, nutrition and dietetics, allied health, health and social care, health and development, public policy, social policy, and South Asian studies.

Inhalt

Making A Real Difference to Under Nutrition Part I: The Macro Issues Foregrounding an Agenda for Community-Based Nutrition Action. Making A Real Difference to Under Nutrition Part II: An Agenda for Community-Based Nutrition Action PART 1 - Community Action and Women's Collectives 1. Where is the Community in our thrust on Poshan? 2. Health, Nutrition and Sanitation initiatives under the DAY - National Rural Livelihood Mission: Lessons in social capital and women's collectives for nutrition 3. Empowering Communities through Participatory Learning and Action Meeting Cycles for Improving Health and Nutrition in Rural India - The Ekjut Initiative 4. Can women collectives tackle obesity led challenges? Kudumbashree - an experiential account 5. Farm Production Diversity, Consumption Improvement, and Nutrition Status in Farming Households: Empirical Evidence from an Action Research Project PART II. Learning from Other States 6. Overcoming the odds- The Nutrition Story of Odisha 7. State Governance for Improving Nutritional Outcomes: The Meghalaya Experience 8. Integrating nutrition and primary health care across rural, tribal communities in southern Rajasthan, India: What does it take, what are the gains? 9. Bihar's JEEViKA Movement and its contribution to improving diet diversity and nutrition outcomes 10. Integrated Management of Malnutrition Programme: 'MAHAN', Melghat, India 11. Children with Special Needs and Early Child Development in the Nurturing Care Framework: Lessons from work in the Periurban Settlements of Delhi 12. Integrating Gestational Weight Gain Monitoring in Comprehensive Antenatal Care through Health Systems Approach: Telangana Experiences Theme III - Nutrition among Children and Adolescents 13. Changing the Narrative: Success Cases in Tackling Childhood Stunting in India 14. Case study: Community-based creches for the management of malnutrition among children under three in tribal areas 15. Organising Young People and Adolescents' Collectives for Improved Nutrition, Health and Overall Well-being 16. Innovative Interventions Spearhead Substantial Improvement in Maternal and Young Child Feeding (MIYCF) Practices and Contribute to the Reduction in Child Undernutrition