-HarvestPlus.org Washington DC: A new study has found that pearl millet bred to be richer in iron was able to reverse iron deficiency in school-aged Indian children in six months. In just four months, iron levels improved significantly. Previously, the same iron-rich pearl millet had been shown to provide iron-deficient Indian children under the age of three with enough iron to meet their daily needs, and adult women in Benin with more...
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No national nutrition survey in last 10 years -Rema Nagarajan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: They may have lower growth rates than India, but Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal are more prompt about conducting regular surveys on the nutritional status of their population. The last nutrition survey done in India was ten years ago despite its unacceptably high levels of malnutrition. During this period, neighbouring nations have completed two surveys. There has been no district level nutritional survey in India since 2002,...
More »MDGs: A neglected agenda for inclusiveness
The India Country Report 2015 on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) comes at a time when the Union Budget 2015-16 allegedly cut expenditure on several social sector schemes and programmes. This year's MDG country report says that India will fail to achieve two important targets pertaining to reducing hunger and maternal mortality by 2015, among others. Released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the report says that India is...
More »Policy on child malnutrition uses old data -Rema Nagarajan
-The Times of India Prime Minister Modi said child malnutrition would be tackled on a "mission mode", his predecessor called it a national shame. Yet, policymaking is dependent on malnutrition data from 2005-06, with the data from the Rapid Survey on Children (RSOC) carried out by Unicef and the women and child development (WCD) ministry in 2013 yet to be made available. The data was sent to the health ministry for...
More »Doubts over Maharashtra's Nutritional Progress?
The results of the District Level Household and Facility Survey-4 for the year 2012-13, commonly known as DLHS-4, are out and it shows that among the 18 states and 3 UTs, the percentage of moderate wasting for children below 5 years is highest among Maharashtra (i.e. 34.1%). Similarly, in case of severe wasting and moderate underweight, the situation is worst in Maharashtra as compared to the rest (Please check the...
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