Dr. Hemlatha R. on Outlook Poshan 2.0 Reach Each Child initiative launched by Outlook and Reckitt.
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00:00 Malnutrition still persists in India, especially in the form of strunting and wasting.
00:09 And repeatedly many research studies have shown how mother's weight and mother's BMI
00:15 is directly influencing the birth weight and the appropriate weight for gestational age.
00:22 So if we improve mother's weight before she conceives, because by the time she gets all
00:28 the government programs, she gets enrolled into ICDS, it is around 12 weeks or 13 weeks,
00:33 by the time most of the organs are already developed and the fetus is already growing.
00:38 So we have to place lots of emphasis on pre-conception counseling that should be made mandatory.
00:44 Young newly married couples should be counseled regarding the importance, significance of
00:50 nutrition as well as health during that period before the girl gets conceived.
00:56 And also appropriate age, because many girls get conceived below 18 years old or below
01:04 17 years old.
01:05 So the right age, good nutrition status and screening for health and appropriately treating
01:12 them for that will definitely improve the birth weight.
01:15 And once we improve birth weight, there is reduction in strunting and also wasting levels.
01:21 This has been shown repeatedly by quite a few studies and this is the major weakness
01:25 in our country.
01:26 And the other one is of course the first one or two years feeding practices which needs
01:30 to be improved.
01:31 Dietary diversity needs to be improved in young children right from six months to two
01:34 years old.
01:35 Nutrition-sensitive approaches, I mean we have to of course improve accessibility and
01:40 affordability when we ask them to take good nutrition.
01:43 Nutritious food must be made available, accessible and also affordable, because most often nutritious
01:48 foods are quite expensive.
01:51 Apart from that, education of mothers is extremely important, because repeatedly our surveys
01:56 have shown wherever mothers' education is poor, consistently the nutrition status of
02:00 their children happens to be very poor, take in terms of strunting or wasting.
02:05 So we need to improve their education and of course wash and hygiene, sanitation, these
02:10 also play a very significant role.
02:13 And of course government's focus is also there on improving sanitation and water supply to
02:18 every corner of the country and improving, particularly improving girls' education will
02:22 play a very significant role in nutrition outcomes.
02:26 National Institute of Nutrition has always played a very significant role right from
02:30 the beginning, inception of our institute itself.
02:33 We have always given the nutrition norms, like how much calories and how much protein
02:39 should go into the plate of the child or pregnant woman or lactating woman.
02:43 That way, NIN has played a significant role and recently we have published in 2017 our
02:51 Nutritive Value of Indian Foods, that is food composition table, which gives very clearly
02:55 the macro and micro nutrients in the foods of 160 macro micro nutrients and 560 foods
03:01 from different corners of the country.
03:02 And this is widely used for nutrition synthesis, I mean, nutrition recommendations and many
03:09 policy makers, education and advocacy and also by students.
03:13 And recently in 2020, we have released the nutrient requirements for Indians and for
03:17 the first time, this particular release includes not only recommended dietary allowances, but
03:22 also estimated average requirements.
03:25 And these metrics have specific use in the book, so in our policy.
03:30 So this estimated average requirements and RDAs have a very special role when we design
03:36 quantification strategies and when we also look for front of pack labeling and by use
03:43 by industry also.
03:45 So that way, NIN has contributed hugely.
03:48 And also we have developed the My Plate for the Day, which was released by the Vice President
03:54 of India in 2019.
03:57 And this My Plate for the Day has been very popular among population.
04:00 It is very easy to understand food based recommendation, like what is healthy, how much your plate,
04:06 how much vegetables and food should go into your plate for a day.
04:10 So it's a very legible, easily given plate, easy to understand even for a lady.
04:18 Operating sector, yes, has a very significant, I mean, can play a very major role, particularly
04:23 with respect to food industry.
04:24 The public-private partnership is very poor right now, not grown to a large extent.
04:31 Food industry can play a very major role by making changes in your packaged foods to healthy
04:38 foods and beverages also with respect to food industry.
04:41 This is health industry also, like for example, when the nursing homes and hospitals are there
04:48 in the city, probably they can also set up smaller level clinics in the tribal areas
04:52 and rural areas and help the government in reaching the innermost segments of our population.
04:59 And also mobile industry.
05:00 Mobile industry can also play a very significant role by incorporating certain apps, which
05:07 can educate the people about nutrition and which can also educate about simple cares
05:13 like screening for hypertension and diabetes, because hypertension and diabetes is increasing
05:19 a very big proportion in our population.
05:22 Most of them are not even aware.
05:23 So that way the mobile phone industry also can play a very major role.
05:28 And each industry also, not many industries are aware that their productivity will decrease
05:33 actually if a person is undernourished or overweight obese.
05:37 This malnutrition spectrum right from undernutrition to overweight obesity can play a very negative
05:42 role on the output of the people, employees.
05:45 So if they have a regular counseling session for their employees with respect to food nutrition
05:51 and appropriate physical activity, that will improve not only physical productivity of
05:58 the company, but also like where innovation is involved.
06:01 I mean, high fat food, all this overweight obesity can make your cognition slightly affected
06:07 and your productivity also.
06:09 So each industry can, if they take up, I mean, see, we have 500 million employees workforce.
06:16 So 26 or 28% of that is in the production industry.
06:22 So each industry can take care of their employees.
06:25 They're quite contributing significantly to the country.
06:29 Potion 2, which was launched very recently, encompasses not ICDS, fresh facility, adolescent
06:35 nutrition, various other aspects under one umbrella.
06:40 And with this respect, Outlook Potion Magazine is doing a great job spreading messages through
06:45 social media about nutrition to every stakeholder in the country.
06:49 That way Outlook Potion Magazine and the initiative taken up by this record company is doing a
06:55 great job by reaching every child in the country.
07:00 (gentle music)
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