With the clarion call of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, 'Poshan Maah' is being observed, to improve the nutritional outcome for children, adolescent, pregnant women and lactating mothers across the country during the month of September and to address the issue of Malnutrition on a mission mode. Accordingly, Regional Outreach Bureau, Guwahati organised a webinar on 'Poshan Abhiyaan' on Tuesday where discussion on the importance of nutrition was discussed. The theme of the webinar was 'POSHAN Abhiyaan– Nutrition and Immunity among Women and Child'.

In his welcome address, Sri. Arijit Chakraborty, Deputy Director, ROB, Guwahati highlighted how Poshan Abhiyaan intends to significantly reduce malnutrition in the next three years. He also informed that the chief objective of the mission is to reduce the level of under-nutrition and also enhance the nutritional status of children in the country by 2022.

Dr. Pooja Jaiswal, MBBS, Clinical & Sports Nutritionist, said that nutrition is essential for health and well-being at every stage of life. She discussed the Poshan Abhiyaan as a programmatic approach in addressing the life cycle issues of malnutrition. She threw light on the importance of a balanced diet, especially for pregnant women. She stressed adequate maternal dietary protein intake and informed the participants about the need for a healthy diet to prevent anemia during pregnancy.

Smt. Ronica Devarshi, Consultant, SPMU, Poshan Abhiyan, Assam, threw light on how Poshan Abhiyaan has been envisaged as India's flagship scheme to improve the nutritional outcomes of adolescents, children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. She highlighted on the various activities carried out by Poshan Abhiyan in the State and special activities taken during Poshan Maah.

Smt. W. Panthobi Singha moderated and summarized the Webinar and Smt. Smita Saikia, MCO, PIB delivered the closing remarks of the webinar with a vote of thanks to the speakers and the participants present. Anganwadi workers and officials of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting from the region participated in the webinar.

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