-The Hindu While there are well-equipped schemes to address malnutrition, funding and policy gaps are problem areas A few months ago, the Global Hunger Index, reported that India suffers from “serious” hunger, ranked 102 out of 117 countries, and that just a tenth of children between six to 23 months are fed a minimum acceptable diet. The urgency around nutrition was reflected in the Union Finance Minister’s Budget speech, as she referred...

-The Hindu NITI Aayog’s draft working paper to strengthen the ICDS programme in urban areas For every 100 anganwadi beneficiaries in the country, only seven are in urban areas, according to the government’s response to a Right to Information (RTI) query from The Hindu. This is primarily because of a severe lack of anganwadis in cities, leading to poor coverage of the government’s flagship programme in early childhood development.   Six services Anganwadis or day-care...

-VillageSquare.in Overcoming taboos and becoming more knowledgeable about abundant local foods, malnourished Kondh people in Odisha are bringing diversity to their food baskets through backyard kitchen gardens Kandhamal/ Kahalandi, Odisha: “Unless we consume a variety of foods that include vegetables and greens, pulses and legumes, and meat and fish along with rice, where will we get adequate nutrition? How can our children have proper physical and cognitive growth?” asked Golapi Kanhar. The question...

-The Telegraph With malnutrition levels as bad as sub-Saharan African countries, a vegetarian diet is just an imposition for Indians Indian cuisine is not a homogenous entity, and food habits differ along regional, religious, caste, and class lines. Yet there is an assumption in dominant discourses that India is a vegetarian nation. According to Dr Veena Shatrugna, former Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderbad, contrary to any such assumption, about 80 per...

-PTI UNICEF releases booklet on how to tackle problems of underweight, obesity and anaemia among children From uttapam to sprouted dal parantha - a book by UNICEF tells how to tackle problems of underweight, obesity and anaemia among children by consuming nutritious food that costs less than Rs.20. The book has been based on the findings of the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016-18 which found that 35 per cent of children under...