Reducing Child Malnutrition with healthy meals

Malnourishment is a silent killer that does not spare even the lives of little children. It is one of the major causes of death of children under the age of five.

Malnutrition is the cause of death of close to half the children in Asia and Africa below five years.

Insufficient nutrition increases susceptibility to various infections and leads to delayed recovery. Three important factors that estimate malnourishment are stunting (low height with respect to age), wasting (low weight for height) and underweight (low weight for age).

Malnourishment in childhood reduces the quality of adulthood

The first 1000 days of a child’s life decide if the child is more likely to be healthy or suffer from malnutrition. This means to say that, poor nutrition of a mother during her pregnancy could lead to a stunted childhood. These stunted children tend to be shorter and weaker. They often have impaired mental development and also tend to perform low in school making them more likely to take up low-payment jobs. Hence, they are unable to provide for their children.

Thus it is imperative to work towards nourishing the present generation of children so that they can contribute directly to the health of the next one. 

According to the World Bank, close to 1/3^rd of stunted children (below 5 years), live in India.

PM POSHAN Abhiyaan (earlier known as the MidDay Meal Scheme) is one intervention that could reduce these numbers drastically.

           

Let us take the example of person ‘X’ from a low-income family. He is a daily-wage worker whose salary or savings is not enough to take care of his wife and children. To become a helping hand to the family’s financial situation, he sends his child to work so that he can get some more money for the family’s food. He does not give a choice to his child to choose.

 

Now, let’s think of another situation where ‘Y’ is a daily-wage worker who is struggling to make ends meet to feed his family of three (along with his wife and child). They are aware of the Government’s MDM scheme and send their child to a nearby Government school with the thought that at least the child will be able to enjoy one proper, wholesome meal once a day. By doing so, they are playing a major role in the child’s education too. These school meals become a reason for the child to attend school without missing even a single day.

 

This is the power of school meals.

Midday meals (MDM) served as a part of this programme not only give an incentive for parents to send their children to school but also become a reason for children to get educated for the long term.

Providing nutrition; food for children

Mid-day meals become a source of nutrition in children. They help in their physical and cognitive development. How?

Here’s how:

•         School meals take care of all the essential nutritional requirements of a child. It helps the child develop in a healthy manner. These meals provided as a part of the PM POSHAN Abhiyaan, take care of carbohydrates, essential fats, proteins, fortified salt, etc.
•         Meals nourish children inside-out, providing them with the right energy to expend it by participating in various sports and co-curricular activities. A well-nourished child can play well when compared to a malnourished child.
•         It reduces risk the of diseases providing good immunity. Meals prevent diseases like anaemia, partial blindness and give them the strength to fight common diseases like cold, flu, etc.
•         Free school meals give them access to education. When children start coming to school on a regular basis, they also get tuned to receiving education on a daily basis.

NGOs play a major role in the implementation the of provision of mid-day meals. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one such organisation that helps children from low-income sections gain the above benefits. It has been serving school meals since 2000 and has grown from feeding 1,500 children to close to 2 million children every day.

Donate online to such NGOs that play an important role to nourish children. You never know how your help could transform the lives of either children or their families or a community on the whole.

Extend your support in whichever way possible. Because no support is small help, it has the potential to change lives.

Importance of nutrition for children

 

Importance of Akshaya Patra's Nutritious Food for Children

Most of the kids these days are generally hooked up on junk food.

As a result of which, children land up eating smaller portions of nutritious food.

Peer pressure, TV commercials, roadside eateries and fried food create battles between parents and their children.

Importance of nutrition in children

Ensuring that children eat a well-balanced diet is crucial for their growth and development. Children constantly grow at a rapid rate outgrowing their clothes. What fits them today may not fit in the next 1 month or so. So be prepared to keep investing in good food and some clothes.

Nutrition can also help in establishing a strong foundation for healthy eating habits. These habits inculcated at a very young age will most likely be carried on to the adulthood stage too. This means that if you teach your child to eat carrots over finger chips, this habit may last throughout their lifetime.

Eating nutritious food also has another long-term effect on children. It helps in building immunity and resistance to nutrition-related diseases that can kick in early in the adulthood stages of life. For example, eating fried food frequently results in high cholesterol levels during early adulthood leading to further complications.

Understanding the importance of healthy meals at a very young age, it was necessary to make healthy meals accessible to children of all walks of life. For children who are privileged, healthy meals are easily accessible.

But, what about children who come from challenging backgrounds?

Can they afford healthy meals?

Meals are a huge ask in itself, healthy meals are beyond their affordability.

Then what is their next possible solution?

For most parents, sending children to Government schools means free food for children in school. These meals become the reason why parents don’t mind sending their children to school rather than pushing them to work as a helping hand to their family’s financial situation.

To encourage more parents to send their children to school, the Government of India made provisions under the PM POSHAN Abhiyaan to serve nutritious mid-day meals to children.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India that implements the world’s largest school feeding programme.

Akshaya Patra is spread across 65 locations and caters to every day nutritional requirements of 1.8 million beneficiaries with mid-day meals. It caters to the local palates of children spread across 14 states and 2 union territories.

By providing unlimited food for education of children, this NGO in India supports the health and nutrition of children.

Children who initially do not value education, start coming to school to get education and realise the importance of studying and achieving. When they become regular at school, they feel that they too play an important in society.

Make an online donation to give wings to children, to make them realise that their dreams can come true too.