Written by, June 12 -- Nazrul Haque, Amalendu Jyotishi, Derek Johnson

Child malnutrition continues to be a critical public health challenge in India, reflected in persistently high levels of stunting, wasting, underweight, and anaemia. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21), 35.5% of children under five in India are stunted, 19.3% are wasted, and 32.1% are underweight. The situation in Assam closely mirrors the national average, with 35.3% of children stunted, 21.7% wasted, and 32.8% underweight. Assam also records alarmingly high levels of anaemia, affecting 68% of children between six months and five years of age.

Addressing this challenge requires nutrition-sensitive, locally appropriate, and scalable soluti...