A Scoping Review of Existing Policy Instruments to Tackle Overweight and Obesity in India: Recommendations for a Social and Behaviour Change Communication Strategy.

Background: The Indian government is committed to addressing various manifestations of malnutrition, including overweight and obesity, inorder to improve individual health and well-being. The scoping review aims to map existing national policy instruments (programmes, schemes, regulations and guidelines) addressing overweight and obesity in India and analysing them for Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategies.

Methods: Systematic identification and selection of policy instruments using 'Arksey and O'Malley' framework was conducted from central government ministry websites, between March and June 2023.

Evaluation of impact of engaging federations of women groups to improve women's nutrition interventions- before, during and after pregnancy in social and economically backward geographies: Evidence from three eastern Indian States.

Background: Undernutrition-before, during and after pregnancy endangers the health and well-being of the mother and contributes to sub-optimal fetal development and growth. A non-randomized controlled evaluation was undertaken to assess the impact of engaging federations of women's group on coverage of nutrition interventions and on nutrition status of women in the designated poverty pockets of three Indian states-Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.

Method: The impact evaluation is based on two rounds of cross-sectional data from 5 resource poor blocks across 3 States, assigning 162 villages to the intervention arm and 151 villages to the control arm.