Having three meals a day does not make one healthy unless the food has the required micronutrients.
That the lack of various vitamins and minerals in food can lead to a serious nutrition deficiency was emphasised at a press meet organised by the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT) and Global Alliance for Nutrition Promotion (GAIN), in collaboration with the Food Safety Division of Telangana.
People were urged to buy food products with ‘+F’ symbol on it, meaning that the food is fortified. Regardless of an individual’s economic background, people can suffer from nutrition deficiency simply due to their choice of food, speakers at the event said.
Nutrition imbalance
Officials of KHPT said rice and wheat constitute a major portion of an Indian’s diet and other categories of food such as fruits, legumes, dairy products and vegetables are consumed in less quantity, leading to deficiency. Apart from traditional choice of food, lack of economic resources too play a role in the food selection.
A micronutrient deficiency can severely impact quality of life, they said. For example, Vitamin B12 deficiency can have multiple effects such as fatigue and mood swings. According to World Health Organisation, deficiency of iron in children under two years of age can have significant and irreversible effects on brain development.
According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data, 70% of children in Telangana aged 6-59 months are anaemic, and 53.2% of pregnant women aged 15-49 years are anaemic.
Since behavioural change and money are required to have food from the five groups, Gururaj Patil, team lead of Fortification at KHPT, said fortifying food is a viable option.
K. Shankar, director, office of the Commissioner of Food Safety, said food products which are fortified will be stamped with the ‘+F’ symbol.
T. Vijay Kumar, deputy Food Controller, said seven milk brands and four oil brands have fortified the products currently. Food Safety and Security Authority of India (FSSAI) would soon make it mandatory for many more food products to be fortified.
