SHILLONG : India is a fast growing economy yet it has high prevalence of malnutrition as 40 per cent of underweight children below five years are from India and 1 out of 3 malnourished children in the world is from India.
This was informed by Karuna Lamar, Deputy Director of Social Welfare Department and S.B. Singh, Demonstration Officer, Community Food & Nutrition Extension Unit (CFNEU) at the inaugural function of National Nutrition Week held at conference room of the department on Friday.
Lamar stated that the aim of the programme is to intensify awareness generation on the importance of nutrition for the overall development of children’s health which will have an impact on the development of the country.
Referring to the situation in the country where malnutrition is of high prevalence at the time of growing economic development, he said, “Economic development is necessary but not a sufficient condition for the improvement of nutrition.”
Meanwhile, speaking as chief guest, Information and Public Relations Minister, Ampareen Lyngdoh stressed on the need to provide nutritious food to children to ensure their overall wellbeing even as she pointed to a misconception that nutrition was usually associated with the amount of money people have.
Pointing to another misconception, she said, “Usually people in the hill station believe that fat babies are healthy babies,” adding that time spent with infants from the age of 0-24 months is crucial.
Underlining the importance of breastfeeding, Lyngdoh expressed concern that a lot of young mothers try to wean their children at a very early age, further pointing out that overall growth of children is linked to the feeding habits by parents.
Stating that child rearing is a participatory event, she said, “The man should also come forward.”
Questioning”Is it (ICDS) merely a programme meant for the distribution of grams, boxes or whether has there been any concrete results?” , she pointed out that if there were lapses, corrective measures should be taken by the department concern.
