Anemia is widespread in India, with almost 58.6% of children, and 50.4% of pregnant women were found to be Anemic in 2016, as per the National Family Health Survey.
India exhibits the highest number of cases of the disease despite having an Anemia control program for 50 years. These numbers show that every second child and pregnant women are anemic. Anemia increases the risk of death by almost 100% during pregnancy and leads to underdeveloped motor and mental growth in children. Anemia decreases productivity in adults and causes a loss of up to 4% of gross domestic product, according to a study conducted by IndiaSpend. This accounts for a loss of $113 billion or Rs 7.8 lakh crore, which is five times India's budget for health, education and social protection in 2018-19. Anemia is more prevalent among children under age 24 months than among older children, with a peak prevalence of 71% observed among children aged 12-17 months. Curing anemia in the first 1000 days of a child’s life, right from the day of conceiving to around 2 years of his life is very crucial for the overall physical and mental growth of the child. It also reduces the chances of post-delivery health impacts.