Indian MP’s to distribute ‘Diet Chart’ among pregnant women

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has been directed to prepare region specific diet charts for expecting mothers which will be given to 543 members of the Lower House for distribution among their respective parliamentary constituencies as part of a social movement announced by the Speaker to combat malnutrition.


Devdiscourse News Desk | New Delhi | Updated: 22-11-2019 20:13 IST | Created: 22-11-2019 20:08 IST
Indian MP’s to distribute ‘Diet Chart’ among pregnant women
Image Credit: Flickr

The Members of Parliament (MP’s) in India are often flayed for not doing much for the people who voted for them. But now, you will see them reaching out to pregnant women of their constituencies with a ‘diet chart’ in hand.

The initiative was announced by Speaker of the Lower House (Lok Sabha) Mr. Om Birla on Friday.

“We should make a collective effort to end malnutrition in the country. If we can create a mass movement to end malnutrition in the country...I hope it will be eradicated by the last session of this present Lok Sabha,” said Om Birla in the house during question hour. The speaker also directed the Women and Child Development Minister Ms. Smriti Irani to prepare a ‘region specific diet chart’ for pregnant women to be provided to 543 MPs for distribution in their respective parliamentary constituencies. He also expected members’ involvement in mass awareness campaigns on the issue in their parliamentary constituencies reports. Addressing the problem of malnutrition in pregnant women is covered under Global Goal 2.2 (SDG 2.2) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. The various schemes of the Indian government are also being mapped in line to the SDGs.  

Though India is one of biggest market for processed food, the studies suggest that the malnutrition in the country is not due to shift in food pattern. The Observer Research Foundation in a recent report concluded that unlike the global reasons of increased malnutrition which are due to increased consumption of processed food, the reasons for malnutrition in India have been ‘grave levels of hunger’. Besides, worsening climatic conditions, unsafe water, unhygienic conditions, open defecation etc. were found to be factors behind malnutrition among children.

Interestingly, the fast food market in India is growing with a CAGR of 10% and is expected to reach about USD 27.7 billion by 2020. The studies, however, do not give a clear picture about how the increasing fast food market is affecting the nutrition among pregnant women and their children. What would the effect, if a family expends the money on purchasing fast food instead of nutritious food advised in the ‘diet chart’ recommended by the national and international agencies?  

However, a study by eminent Indian social scientist Jean Dreze highlights another aspect of the problem the expecting mothers are facing in the country. In the study conducted on 706 expecting mothers from six states of Northern India – Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh – it was found that 63 percent expecting mothers were at their workplace till the last date of delivery.

According to the reports of UNICEF, about one third women in the reproductive age in India are facing the problems of malnutrition. The experts suggest that the first 1,000 days in the life of child including the days of pregnancy are crucial for his/ her health.

 

Please visit Mother, Not Patient (#Mothernotpatient) for more news, views and interviews on expecting mothers. 

 

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