Section 01
Place, population & life stage
Define who, where and when.
Record geography, age or life stage, relevant subgroup, migration and household context, current service journey, population denominator, data period and uncertainty. Use safe aggregation and never expose identifiable health or reproductive information.
Connected system
Girls, Children, Nutrition & Early Development. This concept may change demand across school, health, jobs, housing, water, food, energy, transport, finance, women’s systems and national resilience.
Data reference table
Evidence Snapshot
Read each value with its reporting period, population and limitations. A historical national reference is not a local baseline or proof that an IFT proposal works.
6 source-linked reference records. 3 measurement records still need data and a review of their relevance.
| Signal | Reference Value | Period / Population | How to Read It | Source Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stunting among children under five | 35.5% Historical reference | NFHS-5, 2019–21 India; children under age five | Low height for age is a child-growth indicator; it is not a count of children enrolled in a nutrition programme. Limitations: Historical household-survey estimate. Sampling, non-response and measurement limitations apply; the India figure cannot be assigned to a district or an individual. | Ministry of Finance, Government of India; underlying NFHS data: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Official government release Economic Survey 2022–23: health indicator table Published: 2023-01-31 Publication checked: 2026-11-04 Value, period and coverage checked in publication |
| Wasting among children under five | 19.3% Historical reference | NFHS-5, 2019–21 India; children under age five | Low weight for height measures a different growth condition from stunting; the percentages must not be added. Limitations: Historical household-survey estimate. Sampling, non-response and measurement limitations apply; the India figure cannot be assigned to a district or an individual. | Ministry of Finance, Government of India; underlying NFHS data: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Official government release Economic Survey 2022–23: health indicator table Published: 2023-01-31 Publication checked: 2026-11-04 Value, period and coverage checked in publication |
| Underweight among children under five | 32.1% Historical reference | NFHS-5, 2019–21 India; children under age five | Low weight for age is distinct from low height for age and low weight for height. Limitations: Historical household-survey estimate. Sampling, non-response and measurement limitations apply; the India figure cannot be assigned to a district or an individual. | Ministry of Finance, Government of India; underlying NFHS data: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Official government release Economic Survey 2022–23: health indicator table Published: 2023-01-31 Publication checked: 2026-11-04 Value, period and coverage checked in publication |
| Exclusive breastfeeding under six months | 63.7% Historical reference | NFHS-5, 2019–21 India; children under age six months | This is the survey feeding-practice indicator for eligible infants, not a measure of maternity-leave coverage or an individual care instruction. Limitations: Historical household-survey estimate. Sampling, non-response and measurement limitations apply; the India figure cannot be assigned to a district or an individual. Feeding recall and the survey definition must be retained. | Ministry of Finance, Government of India; underlying NFHS data: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Official government release Economic Survey 2022–23: health indicator table Published: 2023-01-31 Publication checked: 2026-11-04 Value, period and coverage checked in publication |
| Anaemia among children aged 6–59 months | 67.1% Historical reference | NFHS-5, 2019–21 India; children aged 6–59 months | The age interval excludes younger infants. Compare only with the same age group and testing definition. Limitations: Historical household-survey estimate. Sampling, non-response and measurement limitations apply; the India figure cannot be assigned to a district or an individual. Anaemia is not interchangeable with stunting, wasting or iron deficiency alone. | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India Official government release Anaemia Mukt Bharat: NFHS-5 prevalence by population group Published: 2022-02-04 Publication checked: 2026-11-04 Value, period and coverage checked in publication |
| Under-five mortality rate | 31 deaths per 1,000 live births Historical reference | SRS, 2021 India; mortality before age five relative to live births | A child-survival reference distinct from nutrition prevalence and programme enrolment. Limitations: Historical national SRS estimate, not the current death count. Mortality measures with different age endpoints overlap and must not be added. | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, citing Registrar General of India SRS Official government release Maternal and child mortality indicators: SRS 2021 release Published: 2025-05-10 Publication checked: 2026-11-04 Value, period and coverage checked in publication |
| Forecast error and revision | Not established Data required — not zero | Reporting period: Information Required Population and geography: Information Required | Proposed measure; no observed value is established here. Limitations: Define the measure, unit, reporting period and covered population; obtain a traceable dataset and review its suitability for this topic before using a number. | Source organisation: Information Required Direct source URL: not yet verified Source publication date: not established Verification status: Data required |
| Service capacity gap | Not established Data required — not zero | Reporting period: Information Required Population and geography: Information Required | Proposed measure; no observed value is established here. Limitations: Define the measure, unit, reporting period and covered population; obtain a traceable dataset and review its suitability for this topic before using a number. | Source organisation: Information Required Direct source URL: not yet verified Source publication date: not established Verification status: Data required |
| Voluntary access and informed choice | Not established Data required — not zero | Reporting period: Information Required Population and geography: Information Required | Proposed measure; no observed value is established here. Limitations: Define the measure, unit, reporting period and covered population; obtain a traceable dataset and review its suitability for this topic before using a number. | Source organisation: Information Required Direct source URL: not yet verified Source publication date: not established Verification status: Data required |
Different surveys, administrative records, estimates and reporting years are not interchangeable. No combined IFT score is calculated from these rows.
Evidence coverage and review log (CSV) · Structured evidence register (JSON)
Section 02
Problem
Describe the outcome or capacity gap—not a demographic stereotype.
Track stunting, wasting, underweight, anaemia, diet diversity and early/school nutrition with consistent definitions and local action.
Demographic policy can become number-led while hiding unequal health, choice, care and service access.
National averages and one forecast cannot explain district, life-stage or migration differences.
State who is affected, the current result or service mismatch, timing, geography, coping cost, evidence strength and what remains unknown.
Section 03
Root causes
Test structural, service, economic and social explanations.
Fragmented and differently dated data
Compare current datasets, service access, protected lived experience, budgets and alternative explanations before verification.
Forecasts disconnected from budgets and capacity
Compare current datasets, service access, protected lived experience, budgets and alternative explanations before verification.
Gender, care and economic constraints treated separately
Compare current datasets, service access, protected lived experience, budgets and alternative explanations before verification.
Weak privacy, uncertainty and rights safeguards
Compare current datasets, service access, protected lived experience, budgets and alternative explanations before verification.
Section 04
Evidence
Match the evidence to the claim.
- Evidence Question Boundary
- Count or rate How many, among whom, where and when? Needs denominator, definition and coverage
- Forecast What may happen under stated assumptions? Scenario, not a promise
- Evaluation Did an intervention improve a human outcome? Needs comparator, follow-up and uncertainty
Evidence contract Source · definition · geography · population · period · method · subgroup · uncertainty · revision · privacy.
Section 05
How the parts work together
Girls, Children, Nutrition & Early Development
Treat every child as a person with equal value and a long development pathway.
Child Nutrition
Track stunting, wasting, underweight, anaemia, diet diversity and early/school nutrition with consistent definitions and local action.
The operating chain should identify voluntary access, information, trained people, service capacity, portability, finance, privacy, accountability, follow-up, forecast revision and cross-pillar dependencies.
Section 06
India-fit solutions
Support people, families and adaptable public capacity.
Build district and life-stage baselines with comparable definitions.
Use multiple scenarios and connect them to service-capacity decisions.
Protect voluntary choice, equality, privacy and access.
Measure health, capability, security and dignity rather than population size alone.
Decision checks
Choice; Equality; Privacy; Health; Access; Portability; Capacity; Cost; Uncertainty
Section 07
Roadmap
Protect rights now, test delivery and prepare long-term capacity.
- 0–30 DAYS
- Define
Verify geography, population, current service, immediate health or access need, rights boundary and evidence gap.
- 30–90 DAYS
- Diagnose
Compare datasets, service journeys, causes, capacity, alternatives, privacy, cost and scenario assumptions.
- 3–18 MONTHS
- Pilot
Select one district to connect population scenarios with school, health, housing, work and ageing capacity, then review decisions with community and expert input.
- 1–10+ YEARS
- Evaluate & adapt
Scale only after independent review of benefit, equity, informed choice, privacy, viability and unintended effects.
Section 08
How to measure improvement
Track human outcomes—not population numbers alone.
KPI 01
Forecast error and revision
Baseline · target · actual · subgroup · source · period · uncertainty
KPI 02
Service capacity gap
Baseline · target · actual · subgroup · source · period · uncertainty
KPI 03
Voluntary access and informed choice
Baseline · target · actual · subgroup · source · period · uncertainty
KPI 04
Healthy life-stage outcomes
Baseline · target · actual · subgroup · source · period · uncertainty
KPI 05
Equity and privacy compliance
Baseline · target · actual · subgroup · source · period · uncertainty
Decision gate Scale verified and equitable benefit; modify partial benefit; stop coercion, discrimination, rights harm or a non-performing intervention.
Section 09
Rights & safeguards
Population policy must expand informed choice and dignity.
Risk: Coercive or discriminatory population policy
Voluntary choice, legal basis, privacy, independent review and remedy required.
Risk: False precision in projections
Voluntary choice, legal basis, privacy, independent review and remedy required.
Risk: Sensitive personal data exposure
Voluntary choice, legal basis, privacy, independent review and remedy required.
Required No forced sterilisation, forced abortion, sex selection, birth quota, family-size penalty or birth-order discrimination Rights and services belong to every person and child.
Required Human accountability for algorithmic forecasts AI supports decisions; it does not decide rights, eligibility or reproductive choices.
- PRIORITY 15 / 82
- Girls, Children, Nutrition & Early Development
- CORE RULE
Understand change, protect informed choice and plan services with uncertainty visible.
Add protected evidence ↓