Patna: Jeevika didis will now go door to door in villages across Bihar to monitor children’s growth, assessing their weight and height to identify malnutrition. As part of this initiative, a team of Jeevika didis has been formed in each district, covering 10,000 villages in 38 districts in the initial phase. A total of 21,564 didis have been engaged for the programme, which will later be expanded to an additional 12,000 villages.
Under the pilot project, children will be gathered at designated locations within village organisations, where their weight and height will be recorded using growth monitoring kits provided to Jeevika didis. These kits include stadiometers, infantometers, and weighing machines. The initiative aims to track whether children’s growth aligns with their age, with weekly check-ups conducted to monitor progress.
If a child’s height or weight is found to be below the expected range, parents will be provided with a nutrition chart, outlining a diet plan to improve the child’s health. After a week, the child will be reassessed to determine any improvement.
Growth Monitoring Through Colour-Coding
The programme will categorise children based on a three-colour system to assess their nutritional status:
🔹 Green – Children with normal growth.
🟠Orange – Children at risk, requiring immediate nutritional intervention.
🔴 Red – Severely underweight children, who will be classified as critical and referred to Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) for medical attention.
Growth monitoring is already conducted at Anganwadi centres, and Jeevika didis will collaborate with these centres where additional support is required. The initiative is part of ongoing efforts to combat malnutrition in Bihar, ensuring early identification and intervention for children at risk.
