Governor’s pat for State on child nutrition levels

Inaugurates World Food Day celebrations in the capital

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan inaugurating the valedictory of the Poshan Abhiyan programme in the city on Wednesday.

Kerala will soon achieve success at a par with most advanced societies in the area of child nutrition, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has said.

He was inaugurating the World Food Day celebrations organised by the Women and Child Development Department here on Wednesday. The event also brought the curtain down on the Poshan (nutrition) month, being observed in the State from September 17.

The Governor also launched the Sampoorna Thalika project for creating awareness of inclusion of vegetable, fruits, grains, dairy products, and meat in adequate amounts in the daily diet and bring down instances of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus.

Nutrient danglers to be put up in anganwadis to increase awareness of nutrients and micronutrients in the diet and newsletter of Sampushta Keralam were also launched on the occasion.

Starvation down

The Governor said India had been able to bring down significantly the number of people who were facing starvation.

The United Nations had acknowledged that between 2006 and 2016, India lifted over 271 million people out of abject poverty. Adequate nutrition was very important in this mission of poverty reduction.

The Poshan Abhiyaan, which covered children below six years, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, was expected to benefit 10 crore people, laying the foundations of a healthier India.

Kerala, Mr. Khan said, had internalised the significance of child welfare, as was evident from the progress achieved in areas that directly concerned children such as infant and maternal mortality and education.

Mobile devices and applications were being used in the State to augment anganwadi services and improve nutrition outcomes through effective monitoring and timely intervention, he pointed out. Mr. Khan called for preventing any food wastage and stressed the need to check obesity through popularising healthy and diverse food.

Minister for Women and Child Development K.K. Shylaja said the State had good indices on many fronts but needed to focus on health more.

State’s focus

Nutritious food was critical for this, and was also the reason for the State’s focus on the Sampushta Keralam project, she said.

Social Justice Special Secretary Biju Prabhakar, Women and Child Development Director T.V. Anupama. Joint Director Sundari C., and Planning Board member Mridul Eapen were present.