Poshan Tracker

In the commentary, national level data from Poshan Tracker was analyzed to understand how this innovation in accountability may be influencing real-time monitoring of target beneficiaries and the provision of nutritional services in India. As per the Poshan Tracker dashboard, 39% of children beneficiaries aged 0–6 years experienced stunting and 18% were underweight. Among children 0–5 years, 6% experienced wasting and 6% were overweight. The data also shows that 20.9 million beneficiaries received take home rations for at least 21 days as compared to 4.1 million in July 2022. (as per data from Poshan Tracker dashboard, September 2023). However, the authors point out that some of this increase could be due to improved reporting.

The commentary also features a comparative analysis between the latest population-based anthropometric data for children in India, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019–2021) and Poshan Tracker data. On average, stunting was estimated to be 1.86 percentage points lower in Poshan Tracker data than NFHS-5; underweight was 13.72 percentage points lower; and wasting was 12.16 percentage points lower. Overweight, in contrast, was 0.68 percentage points higher in Poshan Tracker, on average, than in NFHS-5. The authors point out that several factors could explain the difference, from differences in the instruments used to measure the weight of children to a decline in the rate of underweight over time. They pointed out that further research is needed to understand the difference.