Health

Child Nutrition in India: A Survey Timeline From NFHS to Poshan Tracker

Across five National Family Health Surveys since 1992-93, child stunting in India fell from 52% to 35.5% and underweight fell from 53.4% to 32.1% by 2019-21. W…

Swipe to explore ›
AiTimeline Home
ANGANWADI LAUNCHED

ICDS and the Anganwadi Network Launch

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme launched in 1975, built around village-level Anganwadi centres offering supplementary nutrition, growth monitorin…

AiTimeline Home
NFHS-1 BASELINE

NFHS-1 Sets India's First National Baseline

India's first National Family Health Survey (1992-93) recorded stunting at 52%, underweight at 53.4% and wasting at 17.5% among children under five — the baseline every…

AiTimeline Home
NFHS-2

NFHS-2 Records Broad but Modest Improvement

NFHS-2 (1998-99) recorded stunting at 45.5%, underweight at 47% and wasting at 15.5% — improvement on all three indicators versus NFHS-1, though the national burden rema…

AiTimeline Home
NFHS-3

NFHS-3 Shows Progress Is Not a Straight Line

NFHS-3 (2005-06) recorded stunting at 48% and wasting at 19.8%, both higher than the previous round, even as underweight continued falling to 42.5% — despite India's eco…

AiTimeline Home
NFHS-4

NFHS-4: Stunting Falls, Wasting Hits Its Peak

NFHS-4 (2015-16) recorded stunting down to 38.4% and underweight down to 35.8% — but wasting rose to 21.0%, the highest figure recorded across all five NFHS rounds.

AiTimeline Home
CNNS SURVEY

Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS)

Conducted 2016-18, CNNS expanded measurement to school-age children and adolescents and added micronutrient and dietary data. For children 0-4, it found roughly 35% stun…

AiTimeline Home
POSHAN ABHIYAAN

POSHAN Abhiyaan Launched

On 8 March 2018, the government launched POSHAN Abhiyaan, India's National Nutrition Mission — framing malnutrition as a problem requiring convergence across ministries,…

AiTimeline Home
NFHS-5

NFHS-5: Stunting and Underweight Both Improve

NFHS-5 (2019-21) recorded stunting at 35.5%, underweight at 32.1% and wasting at 19.3% — the first round where both stunting and underweight improved on the prior round,…

AiTimeline Home
MISSION POSHAN 2.0

Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0

In 2021, the government consolidated Anganwadi services, POSHAN Abhiyaan and adolescent-girl nutrition interventions under one umbrella mission, built around a life-cycl…

AiTimeline Home
POSHAN TRACKER

Poshan Tracker Runs Nationwide

By May 2026, the Poshan Tracker digital platform operated across all 28 states and 8 Union Territories, with over 8.9 crore registered beneficiaries, nutrition data for…

AiTimeline Home

Want the full timeline?

Read the complete story, FAQs and key facts.

AiTimeline Home