Do you know 37 per cent of children, below six years of age are suffering malnourishment in Krishna district? Twenty out of every 100 infants are born underweight in the district, considered rice bowl of the State.
Not only infants, pregnant women and lactating mothers too are anaemic owing to lack of nutritional diet. This was revealed in a survey conducted by Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) Department officials.
The Government is implementing 21 projects to provide nutritional diet and also creating health awareness among women and children.
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The officials were supplying nutritious food through 3,812 anganwadi centres to nearly 2.50 lakh persons, including one lakh children in Krishna district.
The anganwadi workers will serve ‘kichidi’ prepared with wheat sooji (rava), yellow moong dal (pesarapappu), oil and another variety of ‘kichidi’ prepared with rice and yellow moong dal regularly to each woman/child in the centres.
They also serve two eggs in a week.
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Action plan
Speaking to The Hindu WD & CW Project Director V. Swaroopa Rani said officials were planning to bring down the mal-nutrition and underweight cases.
An action plan had been chalked out in the next three years to improve the nutrition among children and women, she said.
Lack of health awareness among mothers and misuse of diet (not taking the food supplied in anganwadi centres) were the reasons for underweight and mal-nutrition, the PD said.
Instructions were given to CDPOs, supervisors, anganwadi teachers and workers to supply Iron Folic Tablets (IFA) tablets for pregnant women and lactating mothers, vitamin-syrup for children and ensure that they take the pills regularly to prevent anaemia, said Ms. Swaroopa Rani.
Supplementary food
Apart from breastfeeding, lactating mothers should give supplementary food for infants from the age of six months. Special care should be taken to prevent weight loss when babies suffer fever, diarrhoea or any other health problems.
Protected drinking water and good sanitation should be maintained in the colonies for the healthy growth of children, the Project Director added.