NFHS-6 reveals progress amid nutrition challenges

The recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-6 report presents a mixed progress card for India, offering reasons to cheer while also sending clear signals to pause and reflect. On the bright side, stunting levels (for children under five), which indicate long periods of sub-optimal food intake with other deprivations, have declined from 35.5% to 29.3%. Though a modest decline, any gain is welcome given the complexity of the task that involves strengthening women’s access to knowledge and resources, improved water and sanitation, and ensuring access to healthy affordable diets. Wasting levels that indicate whether children have adequate weight for their height, show no change, except for severe forms of wasting. The pattern across indicators makes one thing clear: gains in child nutrition are due to better health-care access, immunisation coverage, maternal education and improvements in housing, water and sanitation, while feeding practices and access to quality diets remain weak and continue to limit progress.