New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Heeding the call of the Centre to consider this month as ‘Poshan Month,’ dedicated to raise public awareness on nutrition, the Indo Global Social Service Society (IGSSS), a voluntary organisation, has been organising activities to make the masses aware of nutrition facts through community radios, social media and awareness campaigns at colleges.
IGSSS is trying to
educate mothers
and youth on
nutritional value
of millets, organic
food, nutrition dense
foods, home-cooked
food and discouraging
junk food
A special Odia jingle produced by IGSSS is being aired in community radios in Odisha on the importance of breastfeeding, complementary feeding, hand washing, clean food and the dangers of adulterated food etc.
IGSSS has been trying to educate mothers and youth on the nutritional value of millets, organic food, nutrition dense foods, home-cooked food and discouraging junk food, said KC Sahu, head, Livelihood Section of IGSSS, New Delhi.
A drawing competition on nutrition is scheduled at the PG Department of Social Work, BJB Autonomous College, Bhubaneswar, and students will be given awards. This will be followed by an awareness drive at the college, said Md. Imran Ali, Fellow, IGSSS.
A workshop-cum-exhibition on safe food is also planned in residential areas with recipes prepared from millets, Sahu said.
Despite growth in GDP, around one third of the world’s malnourished children are in India. Of these, half under three years of age are underweight. The World Bank estimates that India has one of the highest concentrations of children suffering from malnutrition.
The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world and is nearly double that of Sub Saharan Africa. This has dire consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity and economic growth.
The 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report by IFPRI ranked India 100 among 118 countries in hunger. Among South Asian nations it ranks third behind only Afghanistan and Pakistan with a GHI score of 29.0.
The campaign ‘Poshan Abhiyan’ of IGSSS will be creating awareness on safe foods, hygiene and food diversity to fight malnutrition, Sahu added.