{"id":186587,"date":"2022-05-26T21:01:52","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T15:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=186587"},"modified":"2022-05-26T21:01:52","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T15:31:52","slug":"diversifying-plates-for-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/diversifying-plates-for-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"Diversifying plates for girls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News<\/strong>: The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data (2019-20)<\/strong> has shown an increase in anaemia<\/strong> among adolescent girls<\/strong> by 5% when compared to National Family Health Survey <\/strong>(NFHS)-4.<\/p>\n

About nutrition requirement<\/strong><\/h5>\n

In the adolescence<\/strong> phase of life, both boys and girls demand a lot of nutrition<\/strong> intake<\/strong>. As girls face more physiological demands<\/strong>, thus they require a higher intake<\/strong> of macro and micro nutrients. Therefore, Adolescent girls are 40% and boys are 18% prone to anaemia.<\/p>\n

The adolescent\u2019s nutritional status<\/strong> is related to the burden of multiple micronutrient deficiencies. <\/strong>Currently, 80% of adolescents suffer \u2018hidden hunger\u2019<\/strong> due to micro nutrient deficiencies.<\/p>\n

Over 10% of adolescents are overweight in 12 States of India<\/p>\n

What are the causes of low nutrition? <\/strong><\/h5>\n

As per the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2019,<\/strong> the consumption of diverse food groups among adolescents was low even before the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 has further worsened dietary diversity<\/strong>, especially of women, adolescents and children. For example, as per a study, women\u2019s dietary diversity in India declined by 42% during COVID-19 lockdowns as they consumed fewer fruits, vegetables, and eggs.<\/p>\n

The lockdowns have led to the loss of mid-day meals<\/strong>, interruptions in Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS)<\/strong> and nutrition education in schools for adolescent girls. The out-of-school adolescent girls<\/strong> were even more vulnerable to poor nutrition outcomes.<\/p>\n

Way Forward<\/strong><\/h5>\n

During adolescence, dietary diversity<\/strong> can be promoted, when dietary habits<\/strong> are in the formative stage. The behaviour imbibed during adolescence has a higher chance of being continued in adult life. It can correct nutritional deficiencies <\/strong>and replenish the body with much-needed nutrients, especially for girls.<\/p>\n

Appropriate nutrition should be ensured to the adolescent girls<\/strong>. This can be done in following ways:<\/p>\n

First, the WIFS services<\/strong> should be continued, the government\u2019s health <\/strong>and nutrition policies<\/strong> should promote diverse diets<\/strong> (like inclusion of millets) and physical activities<\/strong>. This can be done with better school ecosystem<\/strong> (like Nutri-Smart schools having kitchen gardens in schools); and strengthen nutrition counselling<\/strong> through community-based<\/strong> events and Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Days.<\/p>\n

Second, apart from schools, young girls having adequate information<\/strong> and knowledge<\/strong> about appropriate diets can act as change agents<\/strong> for their families, community, and peer groups.<\/p>\n

Third, in addition, increasing the legal age of marriage<\/strong> for women from 18 years<\/strong> to 21 years<\/strong> was a good step. Further, it should be ensured that girls remain in school or formal education. This will provide opportunities to girls to improve their nutritional and health outcomes.<\/p>\n

Fourth, to address hidden hunger, we need to strengthen our policy initiatives to address deficiencies<\/strong> of not just iron<\/strong> and folic acid<\/strong>, but also vitamin B12, vitamin D<\/strong>, and zinc<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fifth, POSHAN 2.0 Mission strongly integrates the aspect of under-nutrition and anaemia among women, girls, and children. In addition, non-communicable diseases and obesity among adolescents should also be included.<\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on an article \u201cDiversifying plates for girls<\/strong>\u201d published in the \u201cThe Hindu<\/strong>\u201d on 26th<\/sup> May 2022<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News: The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data (2019-20) has shown an increase in anaemia among adolescent girls by 5% when compared to National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4. About nutrition requirement In the adolescence phase of life, both boys and girls demand a lot of nutrition intake. As girls face more physiological demands, thus they… Continue reading Diversifying plates for girls<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10498],"class_list":["post-186587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704882183},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}