Table 3 Countries with nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive policies corresponding to priority actions in South Asia
Priority action[8] | AFN | BNG | BHT | IND | MAL | NPL | PKT | SRL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Creating an Enabling environment for implementation of comprehensive food and nutrition policies | Specific nutrition policies to address undernutrition including stunting, wasting and underweight | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Specific nutrition policies to address micronutrient deficiencies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Specific nutrition policies to address overweight | ╳ | ✓ | ╳ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ╳ | ✓ | ||
Food and nutrition security policies | ╳ | ✓ | ╳ | ✓ | ╳ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Include nutrition in the development of country’s, poverty reduction and social protection policies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Established intersectoral coordination mechanism to support food and nutrition security policies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ╳ | ╳ | ||
2 | Initiatives targeted at Nutrition-Specific interventions | Breast-feeding promotion, protection, and support: early initiation, exclusive, counselling and support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Complementary and Supplementary Feeding | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
National guidelines for distribution of micronutrient supplements for children aged 6–23 months | ✓ | ✓ | INA | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | INA | ✓ | ||
Interventions for adolescent girls such as: Iron supplementation, WASH practices, management of overweight | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Interventions for pregnant women | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Distribution of micronutrients powder and micronutrient supplementation norms | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
3 | Initiatives targets at nutrition-sensitive interventions | Policies on smallholder agriculture | ╳ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | INA | INA | INA | INA |
School-based nutrition programs | ✓ | ✓ | INA | ✓ | INA | ✓ | INA | INA | ||
Policies on appropriate nutrition in food manufacture, food labelling norms | ✓ | ✓ | INA | INA | INA | INA | INA | INA | ||
Policies to promote healthy diets and healthy lifestyles | ✓ | ✓ | INA | INA | INA | INA | INA | INA | ||
Policies on WASH with a focus on nutrition | ╳ | ✓ | ╳ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Improved work environment to support women with children | ╳ | INA | INA | ✓ | INA | INA | INA | INA | ||
Regulation of marketing of sugar-sweetened beverages and energy-dense nutrient-poor products and fast foods | ✓ | ✓ | INA | ✓ | INA | INA | INA | INA | ||
Policies on maternal/women's education | ╳ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
4 | Monitoring & Evaluation | Existence of implementation framework | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Monitoring and Evaluation framework | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |