Mysuru: The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) Mysuru which is a pioneering institution devoted to food technology research and development in the country is going all out in its efforts to help malnourished children. Last year, CFTRI had developed products with advanced nutrition value which are not only easy to use but also delicious to combat malnutrition among children which yielded good results. Now to attract people from across the country, they will be conducting a two-day national conference on “Malnutrition: Challenges, Success Stories and Way Forward” at its premise on March 3 and 4.
To address malnutrition among children on State’s request, CFTRI as a part of its pilot project, began distributing seven nutritious foods to 13 Anganawadi centres (Hegdalli, Ramapura and Chamalapurada Hundi villages) in Nanjangud Taluk. This programme was for about 100 undernourished children and an equal number of healthy children. The department of women and child development had found that the district has about 329 severely malnourished children and over 100 of them were in about 13 Anganawadi centres in Nanjangud Taluk. CFTRI developed seven advanced nutritious products: Rice mix, high protein rusk, energy food, nutria chikki with spirulina, nutria sprinkle, sesame paste and fortified mango bar containing macro and micro nutrients which were given to the children.
Malnutrition among children is a major health challenge the nation is facing. As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) carried out by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, 42.5 percent of the children under 5 years of age are underweight. The government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes/programmes. The ministry is implementing Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) namely SABLA, and Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna (IGMSY) as direct targeted interventions. However, incidence of high percentage of malnutrition among children is still prevalent in some of the major states of India including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. These data indicate the need for development of implementation strategies to make the government programmes more effective to combat malnutrition among children.
The two-day national conference is aimed at deliberating various innovative public and private initiatives on combating malnutrition by bringing experts and representatives from government, private and NGOs onto a single platform. The conference will provide an opportunity to share the learnings and challenges faced on the ground, brainstorm and formulate an effective policy to combat malnutrition by adopting a coordinated and holistic approach. The session will specially focus on innovative ideas/concepts that have been effective in the field in terms of robustness and scalability in combating malnutrition. The proceedings and deliberations of the meeting will be brought out as a compendium that can serve as a reference document to fight against malnutrition across the country.
