After the release of the second phase data of the National Family Health Survey Fifth Round (NFHS-5), media commentators and experts have written that the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for India has gone down just below the replacement-level fertility. The TFR for the entire nation was 2.2 in 2015-16, which decreased to 2.0 in 2019-21.   According to the United Nations, the replacement-level fertility is reached when the TFR of a...

-The Hindu It is a very important first step in addressing the mental health and well-being of Children scarred by the pandemic It is now clear that COVID-19 caught us all by surprise. The school education sector in India too struggled during the novel coronavirus pandemic. While online learning for Children has had its fair share of challenges, including learning loss, fatigue from online learning to mental stress, there is another group...

-The Hindu It is high time that the process of monitoring nutrition got importance over survey outcomes The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 shows negligible gains in nutritional outcomes among under-five Children. There has been tardy progress in reducing undernutrition, wasting and stunting. It is a national shame that even now, 35.5% of under-five Children are stunted and 19.3% are wasted. Childhood anaemia has worsened from NFHS-4. Anaemia among adolescent girls and...

-The Hindu India must invest robustly in the world’s largest social programme on early childhood services Being closed since the April 2020-lockdown, anganwadis are slowly reopening. Those in Karnataka, Bihar and Tamil Nadu are opening or considering opening shortly. As part of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), anganwadis play a crucial role in supporting households, particularly from low-income families, by providing childcare, health and nutrition, education, supplementary nutrition, immunisation, health check-up...

-The Telegraph The study, conducted throughout Bengal in September this year, found that the total number of Children suffering from malnutrition stood at 6.70 lakh A recent survey by the women and child development department has revealed that the number of Children suffering from malnutrition has increased twofold during the closure of ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) centres following Covid-19, prompting the Bengal government to take urgent measures to ensure food supply...