New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Women and Child Development Ministry on Monday urged states and Union territories to focus on the nutri-garden initiative for anganwadis, the importance of breastfeeding and tackling severe acute malnutrition during 'Poshan Maah'.

Every year September is celebrated as 'Poshan Maah' (National Nutrition Month) to mark the country's fight against malnutrition.

Also Read | Pranab Mukherjee Funeral: Former President to be Cremated With Full State Honours in Delhi Tomorrow, Flag at Parliament Lowered to Half Mast.

During the month, the government organises programmes to spread awareness on the issues related to malnutrition like stunting, anemia and low birth weight in children and focus on adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

"Under the chairmanship of Secretary Ram Mohan Mishra, @MinistryWCD  organised an interactive curtain-raiser webinar with partnered ministries, stakeholders and states and UTs for #PoshanMaah2020 on upscaling the endeavour for nutrition," the WCD ministry said in a tweet.

Also Read | Mission Begin Again: Maharashtra Govt Extends Lockdown Till September 30; Hotel, Lodges Allowed to Operate With 100% Capacity, No Clarity on Resumption of Local Trains.

"Secretary, @MinistryWCD also urge the states and UTs to focus on the initiative of nutri-gardens in each Anganwadi Centre, the importance of breastfeeding and tackling the problem of SAM (Severe Acute Malnutrition) children during the celebration of #POSHANMaah2020 this year," the ministry tweeted.

To tackle malnutrition, the government is identifying locally available nutritious food in different parts of the country that can be grown at Anganwadi centres. These gardens are called nutri-gardens.

According to the National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4), 38.4 per cent children under five years of age are stunted or low height-for-age and 21 per cent wasted or low weight-for-height in India.

As many as 48.3 per cent of children in Bihar under five are stunted, the survey said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)