Government is implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan, earlier known as National Nutrition Mission, since 18th December 2017 to address the problem of malnutrition in the country.
The Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in the country in a phased manner, through a life cycle approach, by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach.
To ensure a holistic approach, all districts of States/UTs have been covered in the Abhiyaan. Target is to bring down stunting of the children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by the year 2022.
The goals of POSHAN Abhiyaan are to achieve improvement in nutritional status of children from 0-6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers in a time bound manner during the three years with fixed targets as under:
| S.No | Objective | Target |
| 1. | Prevent and reduce Stunting in children (0- 6 years) | By 6% @ 2% p.a. |
| 2. | Prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years) | By 6% @ 2% p.a. |
| 3. | Reduce the prevalence of anemia among young Children(6-59 months) | By 9% @ 3% p.a. |
| 4. | Reduce the prevalence of anemia among Women and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 15-49 years. | By 9% @ 3% p.a. |
| 5. | Reduce Low Birth Weight (LBW). | By 6% @ 2% p.a. |
The results of the POSHAN Abhiyaan can be known after the programme has completed its approved period. However, in the meantime, as per the report of Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) conducted by UNICEF, prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children is 34.7%, 17% and 33.4% respectively, which is an improvement and reduction from the levels reported in National Family Health Survey-4.
The funds released for the scheme are being utilized by most of the State Governments except Odisha and West Bengal. Odisha has recently approved implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan in the State and West Bengal is yet to implement the Abhiyaan.