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This is an archive article published on May 6, 2022
‘Ojan Utsav’: Odisha to start indexing weight, growth of kids from this month
The biennial intervention under the already implemented Mission Poshan in the state, the height and weight of children below 5 years of age will be measured twice a year at over 72,000 anganwadi centres across the state.
According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-20), the nutritional status of children in Odisha has improved in comparison to NFHS-4 (2015-16). (File)
To improve nutrition parameters for children across the state and closely monitor their growth, the Odisha government plans to roll out ‘Ojan Utsav’ (weight fair) this month. The biennial intervention under the already implemented Mission Poshan in the state, the height and weight of children below 5 years of age will be measured twice a year at over 72,000 anganwadi centres across the state.
At present, such data of children is collected by anganwadi workers under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme. Under the ‘Ojan Utsav’, ICDS supervisors will directly be involved in the data collection that will be corroborated with those coming from the anganwadi workers.
“Ojan Utsav has been devised by the Odisha government under a region-specific innovative programme of Mission Poshan 2.0. The first round will be carried out in the last week of May,” an official of the Women and Child Welfare Department said.
“This will help us in validating the data better and identifying specific areas we must focus on. It will also be a good indication of the levels of wasting and stunting among children,” the official added.
According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-20), the nutritional status of children in Odisha has improved in comparison to NFHS-4 (2015-16). The recent survey showed 18.1 per cent of children in Odisha below 5 years are suffering from acute malnutrition, down from 20.4 as per the previous report.
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