India, June 17 -- What is the marker of a healthy adulthood? It is good nutrition at early childhood, particularly during the first 1,000 days of life-from conception to a child's second birthday-when the brain develops rapidly and the body requires adequate nourishment to support healthy growth.

Nutritional deficiencies during this formative period can have lasting impact on both physical and cognitive development. Ensuring right nutrition to children has therefore been a crucial development intervention in the health sector since the launch of planned development in the 1950s.

Yet malnutrition remains one of India's most persistent development challenges. The latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) of the Union Ministry of Healt...