Opinion | Poshan Tracker : Using Data to Address Malnutrition

Many of us are used to our doctors entering information into electronic health records. Increasingly, we expect that these data will help track our health over time, flag risks early, and guide timely action. Digital systems work best not merely because they collect data, but because they help translate information into decisions and improved care.

Since its launch by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2021, the Poshan Tracker app has sought to make nutrition service delivery data more actionable. Its ambition is not simply digitisation, but to bring greater seriousness and consistency to how child growth and nutrition services are recorded and reviewed.

The Poshan Tracker has the potential to translate routinely collected growth data into meaningful decisions at the last mile. Monthly growth monitoring—if measured correctly and recorded consistently—can provide early signals of risk. A single, persistent electronic record can help link growth trends with supplementary nutrition through take-home rations, caregiver counselling, and referral of children with acute malnutrition to health centers.

To move in this direction, we need to shift from dashboards to decisions, and from counting to care. Built-in nudges, simple checklists, and alerts could support Anganwadi Workers in following up with children vulnerable to wasting or severe acute malnutrition. Integration with data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and RCH 2.0 portal could further strengthen referral follow-up through coordinated home visits.

At present, the growth data collected provides a valuable starting point. With focused improvements in measurement practices and system support, it can reliably inform timely decision-making. Accurate decisions depend on getting the basics right—reliable measurements, correct techniques, and functional equipment. If a child’s height or weight changes implausibly from one month to the next, the system should prompt verification or a repeat measurement. Short micro-videos embedded in the app can reinforce correct use of weighing scales and length boards at the point of care. Equally important is ensuring that every Anganwadi Centre has calibrated and functional equipment. These fundamentals are essential for strengthening the usefulness of growth monitoring data.

An analysis of Poshan Tracker data could also support a shift from dashboards to decisions. First, we need to know when wasting is most likely to occur—at what age and during what months of the year. Is it at birth? Or are 0 to 3 months or 3 to 6 months key, when mothers are still being encouraged to exclusively breastfeed? Or is it at 6 months to 1 year, when adequate, appropriate and safe complementary feeding is required?

Analyses of Poshan Tracker data could also help us understand more about the children who recover from wasting. Are children in certain districts more likely to recover? Are children more likely to recover during kharif harvest months? Likewise, such analyses could tell us more about the children who are repeatedly or persistently experiencing wasting throughout their childhood. Are they children who were born wasted and didn’t quite manage to catch up? Are they children who aren’t receiving take-home rations regularly? With this information in hand, local level nutrition service delivery can be improved.

Improving trust in the data will also be central to easing the workload of frontline workers. As confidence in the system grows, more Anganwadi Workers are beginning to use the app as a primary record. In many settings, however, paper registers continue to be maintained alongside digital entry, often as a safeguard against connectivity constraints or compliance requirements. Strengthening offline functionality, improving data reliability, and providing clarity on digital-first workflows can help accelerate the transition toward point-of-service data entry and reduce the need for duplicative reporting. Engaging frontline workers in refining the system can help ensure that the app supports their work.

The Poshan Tracker is a reliable tool to support timely and informed decision-making. Its real strength lies in enabling early identification of risk, faster follow-up and improved coordination of nutrition services. Designed for the realities of the last mile and strengthened through continuous improvements in data quality and use, the Poshan Tracker is not just a monitoring tool but a meaningful instrument for strengthening nutrition service delivery.

(The Author is a Professor of Global Health & Nutrition at the University of Edinburgh.)