Gandhinagar, May 5 (IANS). Gujarat has secured fourth position in the country in the 8th edition of ‘Poshan Pakhwada’. During this campaign which ran from April 9 to 23, Gujarat’s contribution to the total activities in the entire country was more than 10 percent.
According to the data, 73.14 lakh nutrition-related activities were carried out across the state during the fortnight-long initiative. At the national level, Gujarat’s share stood at 10.77 per cent of the total reported activities, making it among the best performing states in the implementation of the ‘National Nutrition Mission’.
This campaign was run under the guidance of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and completed under the supervision of Women and Child Development Minister Dr. Manisha Vakil. The Women and Child Development Department alone carried out 33.91 lakh activities, which is 46.36 percent of the total activities of the state.
Along with this, more than 18 departments including health, education and panchayats worked together to increase the reach at various administrative levels. The main theme of the 2026 edition of Nutrition Fortnight was, Maximizing brain development in the first six years of life.
This initiative was based on the premise that approximately 85 percent of a child’s brain develops by the age of six. Therefore, it focused on early childhood care with greater emphasis on nutrition as well as cognitive development.
This campaign was based on five main pillars. These included improving the nutrition of pregnant women, strengthening breastfeeding practices, and ensuring appropriate complementary feeding for infants.
The program also promoted early cognitive development through interaction, play and emotional engagement between caregivers and children.
Another key area was preparing children for formal schooling through play-based learning in Anganwadis.
Additionally, the campaign also attempted to address concerns about increased screen time among children by encouraging them to use screens less and be active on a daily basis.
The final component included improving Anganwadi infrastructure and services through public participation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
At the grassroots level, all gram panchayats in the state organized nutrition panchayats, quizzes, poster competitions and community awareness programs to spread information about nutrition and early childhood care.
The scale and coordination of these activities reflects the involvement of multiple departments and community activism in furthering the goals of the National Nutrition Programme, officials said.
–IANS
ASH/ABM
