Project Poshan

Maharashtra has a high rate of malnourishment, with nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 caused by undernourishment. The problem is particularly severe in rural areas, where socio-economic challenges exacerbate the issue. To address this, United Way Mumbai has partnered with the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to launch Project Poshan, aimed at combatting malnutrition in both rural and urban communities.

Contribute to a Well-Nourished Next Generation

Establishing Partnerships with the government's Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), which provides supplementary nutrition to children below 6 years of age.
Enrollment and specific targeting of undernourished children, to ensure visible impact
Supplementation of nutritious food (ensuring 500 KCal & 10 gm proteins), specifically designed, locally sourced & culturally acceptable. Food safety monitoring at every step.
Anthropometric assessment & growth monitoring of the children, based on multiple nutritional indices to track the growth.
Building capacities of ICDS staff & parents for improving feeding practices, sanitation, healthcare of child and household nutritional recipes
Medical screening and consultation for severely undernourished children

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Project Poshan

Latest Updates

Project Poshan Update - May 2023

28th May 2023

Training was conducted on the facility- and community- based management of SAM for medical officers, community health officers of the primary health centres, and medical staff of NRC in Karjat. The Taluka Health Officer and Child Development Project Officer also attended the training. The following key topics were covered: Overview of the services offered in the NRC, Standard diagnostic criteria for treating SAM children at PHC level; when to refer to NRC, Guidelines for the storage, handling and prescription of RUTF, Warning signs to look out for when a child is under CMAM protocol and the Importance of and recommended frequency of proper follow-up.

Project Poshan Update - February 2023

28th February 2023

Supplementary nutritious foods were distributed (post parental consent) to all 3700 identified malnourished children aged 6 months to 6 years (those with SAM, MAM, SUW, MUW, some borderline malnourished). Micronutrient fortified ladoo pre-mixes (soya, jowar) and savoury bajra mix (selected after careful sensory evaluation and local relevance) were given. Air tight jars were also provided for safe storage of the food. All foods provided are in compliance with food safety guidelines issued by relevant government authorities. Safe food handling training was also conducted for the parents and caregivers of all the beneficiaries (malnourished children) that were being provided supplementary nutritious foods. The training included topics such as how to prepare the ready-to-cook supplementary meals for malnourished children, with dosage plans of the meal and safe handling, storage and hygiene practices.

Project Poshan Update - January 2023

28th January 2023

Poshan team mobilised the parents of malnourished children for a medical camp for screening of SAM children. 9 children with SAM were admitted to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre for treatment. The UWM Poshan team extensively counselled the family members of children with SAM to admit them to the NRC in the sub-district hospital, Karjat. We mobilised the members from the gram panchayat including the sarpanch, community members, MPW, ANM, anganwadi worker, etc. to ensure urgent medical care is provided to SAM children. Post admission, nutrition counselling and healthy kit provision were conducted. Some activities conducted include help in transport and stay in the NRC, psychosocial support in the form of counselling to the family, games conducted with children to enable a positive environment for speedy recovery, capacity-building of caregivers in appropriate feeding practices, conducting diet recalls to assess dietary patterns and do needs-based counselling, anthropometric assessment, home-based follow-ups post discharge and provision of special food kits upon discharge. The life-saving admissions of SAM children in the NRC were covered in 4 news articles.

Project Poshan Update - December 2022

28th December 2022

Baseline anthropometric measurements (weight, height and mid-upper arm circumference) were conducted for 10,000+ children in 189 villages of Karjat. The anthropometric data has been used to identify the malnourished children and help distinguish different categories of malnourishment i.e. SAM/ MAM children. The data will also serve as a baseline to compare with end-line and growth monitoring measurements for tracking progress.

Moreover, a critical child from Damsewadi village, Khandas bit was provided urgently required medical support by quick referral to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre in Sub-district Hospital, Karjat by the Poshan team. Click on the update to know Bala’s story.

Project Poshan Update - November 2022

22nd November 2022

UWM project office in Kadav, Karjat was officially inaugurated by George Aikara, CEO, United Way Mumbai and senior team members of UWM in the presence of dignitaries such as Dy. Tehsildar Karjat block Mr. Sachin Raut, Child Development Project Officer Mr Palkar, senior gram panchayat members, medical officers, and anganwadi supervisors on 22nd November, 2022

Project Poshan Update October 2022

28th October 2022

On the occasion of World Handwashing Day on 15th October 2022, Poshan team conducted major community awareness sessions across anganwadi centres in 6 villages of Karjat to highlight the importance of handwashing in promoting good health and preventing the spread of diseases. Through these sessions, Poshan team educated the community members on the proper steps and techniques for handwashing and the benefits of maintaining good hygiene practices. Poshan karyakartas used an engaging song to demonstrate hand washing steps in local (Marathi) language which makes the process fun and memorable! Our team also shared valuable information on the link between handwashing and malnutrition, emphasising the importance of handwashing in combating malnutrition among children. These sessions were conducted with the support of Anganwadi workers, who helped us reach a wider audience and create greater impact.

Project Poshan Update - September 2022

29th September 2022

National Nutrition Month (NNM) or Rashtriya Poshan Maah is celebrated every year in September, as part of the Government of India’s POSHAN Abhiyan. United Way Mumbai undertook a campaign to commemorate NNM in September 2022 under the aegis of Project Poshan, in rural and tribal areas of Karjat to address malnutrition-related challenges among children. The launch of the event was done with an awareness rally in Kashele village. It was followed by an orientation about the NNM plan for the month ahead with Mr Aniket Palkar (Karjat CDPO), gram panchayat, anganwadi supervisors, anganwadi workers and UWM poshan karyakarta team. Over the month of September 2022, NNM was celebrated in 73+ Anganwadi centres, where the UWM team facilitated various over 200 events such as healthy baby and mother competitions, healthy recipe competitions, godh bharai events, half yearly birthday celebrations, haemoglobin checkup camps, awareness rallies, etc. All the events conducted during the NNM were to support the ICDS system and complement their efforts to make malnutrition free villages.

Poshan Recipe Book

1st November 2020

Due to the pandemic, many services available at the Anganwadi centre are now unavailable. This included the provision of hot cooked meals that make up a substantial portion of the nutritional requirements for children aged 0 to 6. To create awareness amongst community members about nutritious recipes using locally available produce, Project Poshan conducted a virtual recipe activity during National Nutrition Month 2020.

During this time, the team received over 100 recipes from Anganwadi workers and community members. After careful selection, 30 recipes that highlighted the best cooking practices and ideas were chosen for the Poshan Recipe Book. This book will be distributed to Anganwadi workers, ICDS Supervisors and CDPOs and mothers of children suffering from moderate to severe malnutrition in an effort to provide key information on meeting a child's nutritional requirements. To take a look at all the nutritious recipes in the book, please click here

National Nutrition Month 2020

1st September 2020

Every year, the whole month of September is commemorated as National Nutrition Month (NNM) in India and the aim of this is to intensify the awareness generation process regarding malnutrition among community members. While this year has been a lot different, September was commemorated as NNM 2020 with virtual activities at the core.

To commemorate the National Nutrition Month with the ICDS, UWM planned multiple activities such as virtual training, online recipe competition and much more. To read the full report about UWM's activities during the NNM 2020, please click here

Project Poshan Update - August 2020

7th August 2020

As of 9th September, more than 4.37 million people in India have been infected by COVID-19 and the numbers are increasing rapidly. India is the second-worst affected country, with Maharashtra, the location of Project Poshan, being especially bad. Field activities for Poshan have ceased for the past five months due to the nationwide lockdown. But while this is the on-ground situation, our team has continued interacting

and training the government officials and parents at the project locations through online sessions and telephonic discussions. Not limiting the interactions and sessions to malnutrition, we have also trained both the target groups on the key aspects of COVID-19.

You can read about the details of our interventions in the full report here.

Project Poshan Update - July 2020

1st July 2020

UWM has taken the initiative to provide the ration kits for the whole family of undernourished children so that not only the undernourished kids can get the nutrition but at the same time families can also benefit. For this, the neediest and underserved families were identified and a list was put together. The kits were provided at the event while following social distancing protocols. 484 ration kits were distributed among the families of 510 undernourished children in 11 tribal villages of Karjat.

To strengthen Primary Health Centres, UWM provided the following supplies - 200 face shields, 200 N-95 masks, 2900 pairs of hand gloves, 34 litres of hand sanitiser, 6 pulse oximeters, 33 litres of handwash, 6 foot-operated sanitiser dispensers and 6 IR thermometers.

Our team continued training sessions for frontline health workers and counselling for parents through video and phone calls. A webinar was conducted this month for Anganwadi workers on safety measures during COVID-19. 67 Anganwadi workers and their ICDS supervisors participated in this session.

For full details, click here.

Project Poshan Update - May 2020

1st May 2020

Through United Way Mumbai's COVID-19 Response we are supporting Project Poshan beneficiaries and low-income families, whose income source has been severely depleted by the COVID-19 pandemic and frontline health workers, who require personal protective gear.

For more details regarding the initiative, please see our full report here

Project Poshan Update - March 2020

1st March 2020

International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on the 8th of March every year around the world. Many organizations, including the United Nations, use this day to also celebrate extraordinary achievements of ordinary women. To encourage and motivate women and adolescent girls of the community, we commemorated International Women's Day at Anganwadi centres in Panvel and Karjat, Raigad. At the commemoration, women achievers were invited to share their success stories with the community focusing on how they achieved their goals and where they have reached today.

Child Development Project Officer (CDPO), Panvel Block- II, School Headmaster of Village school, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM), Advocate and school teachers shared their success stories with the community.
A schoolgirl from the Raigad Zilla Parishad School also shared an inspirational story on the contribution of Indian Educationalist, Savitribai Phule.
More than 80 women and adolescent girls in Panvel and 70 women in Karjat were present at the events. Female achievers from the village were also felicitated during the event for their extraordinary efforts and achievements.

For more details on the commemoration please click here.

Meeting with parents of SAM children at Poshan Resource centre, Karjat

1st February 2020

A meeting with the parents of severely acute malnourished children (SAM) was conducted at the Poshan Resource Centre, Karjat. The objective of this meeting was to guide parents of SAM children and Anganwadi workers about the impact severe malnutrition has on a child. Topics such as home-based care of a child with no clinical signs, usage of locally available nutritious food and how and when Anganwadi workers can help parents in identifying and referring children to the hospital was discussed during the meeting by the project nutritionist. UWM has also distributed a booklet on the management of SAM children at home. 20 parents along with Anganwadi Sevikas, ICDS supervisors of Karjat Blocks 1 & 2 and THO (Taluka Health Officer) were present during this meeting.

Training of frontline health workers on Anaemia prevention and MHM in Panvel Block-1

1st January 2020

Anaemia is a major health concern in India. According to the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNN-2019) the rate of anaemia in Raigad district is 61.5%, which is much higher than the state of Maharashtra (47.7%).

United Way Mumbai (UWM) collaborated with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) from Panvel Blocks 1 & 2 and Karjat Blocks 1 & 2 in order to conduct anaemia testing and awareness camps under the "Anaemia Mukt Raigad Abhiyaan”. 322 ASHAs, Anganwadi workers, ANMs and Anganwadi helpers were trained on anaemia prevention and menstrual health and hygiene management during the initiative's Phase-I. In phase- II, the team will conduct haemoglobin testing and awareness camps in 256 Raigad Zilla Parishad (RZP) Schools in Panvel-1.

Anaemia testing and awareness camp at Shirdhon and Navha, RZP schools

1st December 2019

According to the National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) the prevalence of anaemia is very high in adolescent girls. 38.4% of adolescent girls are anaemic in India according to the "Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNN)". To create awareness on anaemia and its prevention, the team helped ICDS in facilitating haemoglobin testing and anaemia awareness camps at Raigad Zilla Parishad (RZP) schools, Shirdhon and Nhava villages.97 girls underwent haemoglobin testing and 171 girls were sensitized on menstrual hygiene, how to maintain a nutritious diet rich in iron along with signs and symptoms of anaemia.

November 2019 Update

14th November 2019

Children's day was celebrated in three Anganwadi centres across Panvel Block-II. To help in improving children’s' health and creating awareness of healthy food habits, the team conducted a variety of fun and learning-based activities, including drawing and games. A customized snakes & ladders game on good and bad habits was the highlight of the day for the 130 children from 3 Anganwadi centres who participated along with their parents in these activities.

October 2019 Update

15th October 2019

October 15 is Global Handwashing Day, a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. To commemorate "Global Handwashing Day 2019” the project team conducted sessions on the 7 steps of handwashing, good health, hygiene and sanitation practices followed by a demonstration on the importance of handwashing for community members in Karjat and Panvel-based Anganwadi centres. 11 sessions on health and hygiene were conducted in Karjat and Panvel wherein 8 pregnant women, 11 lactating mothers, 9 adolescent girls, and 58 community members participated.

Community Awareness session:

The project team conducted community awareness sessions on Ante-Natal Care (ANC) and Post-Natal Care (PNC). UWM has developed various pictorial charts to help community members understand key messages. The field team also conducted meetings with key village stakeholders - Gram Panchayats - to discuss their role in fighting malnutrition in their villages. A total of 53 sessions were conducted in which 91 pregnant women, 136 lactating mothers, 35 adolescent girls, and 472 community members attended.

For more information on our interventions for in October, click here.

National Nutrition Month 2019

22nd September 2019

United Way Mumbai (UWM) commemorated National Nutrition Month (NNM), an annual occasion as part of the Government of India’s "POSHAN Abhiyan” (the Prime Minister's scheme for Holistic Nourishment) from 1st to 30th September. The focus of NNM was on 5 themes – 1000 days after birth, diarrhoea management, diet diversity and complementary feeding, anaemia prevention, hygiene, sanitation and safe drinking water.

The main objective of this annual event is to intensify awareness generation on the importance of good nutrition practices which has an impact on development, productivity, economic growth and ultimately National development. UWM extended its support to this mission through Project Poshan by undertaking a month-long campaign to mobilize various stakeholders in the fight against malnutrition. Various activities were conducted such as designing of a healthy plate (an easy and pictorial way to depict the quality and quantity of food with the inclusion of all the food group), healthy recipe competitions for community members where community members prepare recipes made from locally available food items and a Poshan (Nutrition) Rally with school children.

For details regarding the programme click here

World Breastfeeding Week 2019

7th August 2019

Project Poshan - World Immunisation Week

30th April 2019

World Immunization Week is an annual health campaign coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and celebrated in the last week of April to promote the role of vaccination in protecting people of all ages from diseases. United Way Mumbai marked World Immunization Week by conducting various health awareness sessions for parents, Anganwadi workers and ASHA workers in Karjat and Panvel on the importance of immunization and vaccines in preventing diseases and promoting good health.

National Safe Motherhood Day

11th April 2019

National Safe Motherhood Day is commemorated each year in order to promote proper healthcare practices among women, especially those who are pregnant or lactating. To mark the occasion this year, United Way Mumbai organised Godh Bharai activities at various Anganwadi Centres in Raigad. Godh Bharai is a celebration of motherhood and the ceremony stands for providing blessings in abundance to expecting mothers. At the event, the soon-to-be mothers were sensitised about the importance of breastfeeding and prenatal and postnatal care, to ensure that both mother and child enjoy good health.

Project Poshan Commemoration of World Health Day 2019

7th April 2019

World Health Day is an annual occasion commemorated globally each year on 7^th April. The aim of the occasion is to create awareness regarding good health practices among communities. This year's theme for World Health Day was "Universal Health Coverage", one of the primary goals of the World Health Organization (WHO), in its efforts to ensure that people have timely access to affordable healthcare facilities. United Way Mumbai commemorated World Health Day by conducting various health awareness activities including:

Healthy Plate: The activity was conducted for children, pregnant and lactating women and other community members to generate awareness about and promote the importance of a well-balanced diet for every meal.
Health Check-up Camp: A health checkup camp was conducted for adolescent girls to determine their haemoglobin levels and Body Mass Index (BMI). The camp was conducted with the support of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Karjat.

Capacity Building of Anganwadi Workers

28th March 2019

Accredited social health activist (ASHA) workers and Anganwadi Sevikas at the Primary Health Centre in Karjat participated in an interactive session organised by United Way Mumbai focusing on good nutritional practices related to antenatal and postnatal care.

Distribution of food supplements

5th February 2019

Food supplements were distributed to Anganwadi centres in Panvel, Karjat in Raigad and in Mumbai's F-North Ward, after the United Way Mumbai team conducted extensive quality-check at the Radhakrishna Food Services offices in Thane.

Poshan Update: 31st January 2019

31st January 2019

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Project POSHAN Update.png

Commemoration of National Nutrition Month

24th October 2018

Rashtriya Poshan Maah (National Nutrition Month) is an annual commemoration, as part of Government of India’s POSHAN Abhiyaan (the Prime Minister’s scheme for holistic promotion of nutrition), which aims to intensify awareness generation on the importance of nutrition for good health, which further impacting development, productivity, economic growth and, ultimately national development.

United Way Mumbai joined hands with ICDS officials in Raigad district of Maharashtra to commemorate the occasion in the month of September, 2018 through various interventions, including:

Sensitisation sessions for village panchayat committee members
Group meetings and community dialogue with pregnant women, fathers and lactating mothers
Home visits and counselling sessions for parents of SAM children
Group counselling on nutrition for women and adolescent girls
Nutrition themed games with the children at the Anganwadi centres
Capacity building of the Anganwadi sevikas on safe food handling practices

To read the full report on all our activities during the National Nutrition Month, please click here.

World Breastfeeding Week Activities

7th August 2018

World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is an annual celebration organized by The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) to promote, support and encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. To Commemorate WBW, United Way Mumbai (UWM) reached out to 200+ pregnant and lactating women in rural and tribal communities in Karjat, Panvel, slum communities in Sion and Wadala.

Downloads
World Breastfeeding Awareness Week-Project Poshan.pdf

Project Poshan - Kitchen Garden Plantation Update

5th June 2018

On 5th June, 2018 (World Environment Day), 500 corporate employee volunteers & community members helped plant 12 varieties of seeds and 15 varieties of saplings in 11 Anganwadis

Downloads
Kitchen Garden.pdf

Project Poshan - Karjat

26th February 2018

United Way Mumbai recently launched the Karjat leg of Project Poshan and inaugurated the field office there. Now, the first batch of nutritional supplements have been distributed to the malnourished children at Anganwadis in Karjat. Project Poshan is United Way Mumbai's fight against malnutrition in children from marginalised communities.

Inauguration of Project Poshan's Karjat Field Office

22nd February 2018

The Project Poshan field office in Karjat was inaugurated today in partnership with NGO, Mahila Vikas Shishu Sanskar Kendra (MVSSK). UWM & MVSSK have partnered to implement Project Poshan in Karjat & Panvel, to fight malnutrition in children from underprivileged communities.

Project Poshan - Mumbai Inauguration

21st February 2018

United Way Mumbai's Project Poshan was launched in Mumbai today. Mr. Herjit Bhalla, MD, Hershey India inaugurated the project launch, where nourishing laddoos were made for the children suffering from malnutrition. Project Poshan aims to provide nutritional supplementation to malnourished children from underprivileged sections of the community.

Project Poshan - Safe Food Handling Training

31st January 2018

The Anganwadi helpers in Karjat are attending training on Safe Food Handling, organised by United Way Mumbai and conducted by experts in the field. The training is being conducted as part of United Way Mumbai's Project Poshan, the campaign to fight malnutrition in rural areas close to Mumbai.

Project Poshan Video (The Better India)

24th July 2017

Project Poshan: Fight Against Malnutrition - 12th July

12th July 2017

Project Poshan is United Way Mumbai's fight against malnutrition. This update has details regarding our latest intervention - a three day health checkup camp for severely malnourished children. The interventions were also covered in various local media publications. You can read the media articles on our webpage Media Mentions Section.