Focus on nutrition: PM’s appeal in ‘Mann Ki Baat

Source: The post is based on an article “Focus on nutrition: PM’s appeal in ‘Mann Ki Baat’” published in The Business Standard on 31^st August 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2

Context: This article discusses the issues associated with malnutrition and its mitigation strategies.

Prime Minister has recently pleaded to make malnutrition eradication a people’s movement. He stressed on the use of technology for creating awareness

What steps have been taken by the government to address malnutrition?

India has made noticeable progress in alleviating starvation but malnutrition is still prevalent. It is evident from the high occurrence of anemia and obesity.

The government has also made some sensible moves to utilize anganwadis for this purpose by equipping them with mobile devices and extending their services to adolescent girls.

What are the reasons for existing malnutrition?

The country’s vast public-distribution network has failed to deliver to its potential.

Its focus is on supplying primarily the belly-filling cereals rather than the whole range of food items to take care of the nutritional needs.

Another cause of malnutrition is consumption of cheaper cereals rather than the nutritious coarse grains like millets.

What are the findings of the UN report?

The United Nations (UN) report titled “State of Food Security and Nutrition 2022” has indicated that:

Even though the number of undernourished people in India has declined, the number of anaemic children and women including overweight people is still high.

The Fifth National Family Health Survey had shown that over half the children and women were anaemic. The incidence of obesity was on the rise among both men and women.

What should be the further course of action?

The prime minister stressed on increasing the consumption of millets.

A recent study points out that regular consumption of millets can improve hemoglobin levels and reduce anemia-causing iron deficiency.

The ultimate objective should be to make millet products part of the modern food platters to combat malnutrition in a cost-effective manner.