Source ForPressRelease.com

Highlighting that the POSHAN Abhiyaan will benefit more than 10 crore people, hon’ble Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Ramdas Athawale today said that the government is addressing malnutrition in a ‘mission-mode’. He was delivering the inaugural keynote address at the Bharat Nutrition Week, organised by the Integrated Health and Wellbeing (IHW) Council, a non-profit social impact institution promoting health for all, on the first day of ‘National Nutrition Month’.



“Since March 2018, our government has initiated POSHAN Abhiyaan that directs the attention and efforts to tackle the problem of malnutrition and address it in a mission-mode. This programme will benefit more than 10 crore people, especially women and children. POSHAN Abhiyaan is an intensely community-based programme that involves family members – husbands, father, mothers-in-law and neighbours – and community health care providers to create awareness on key nutrition behaviours. As a society, it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone gets the required nutrition. The war-footing efforts will ensure people even in the remotest part of India get this necessity,” says Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Ramdas Athawale.



“There are two Indias in this India comprising the under-nourished and the over-nourished. Both these types are at an increased risk of morbidity and mortality irrespective of sex and across all ages. The issue of malnourishment should be addressed by inculcating healthy habits in children in and outside schools who can influence their peers, teachers, and parents. Besides, people should be made aware of eating habits on three principles: Balance of nutrition; moderation of portion; and variety of food,” says Dr Harshad Thakur, Director, National Institute of Health & Family Welfare, MoHFW.



“Our approach to nutrition is fragmented and approaches mentioned by the Prime Minister, e.g. nutrition cards and nutrition monitors, are very innovative. We need a shift in our approach to nutrition deficiencies: use a lifecycle approach; bringing together all sectors and ministries; move from food security to nutrition security; focus on family-based interventions; and address the spectrum of nourishment which means one who is ‘over-nourished’ with one ingredient may be under-nourished for another,” says Dr Sanjiv Kumar, Chairperson, Indian Academy of Public Health.