BHOPAL:
UNICEF India
’s chief of nutrition
Arjan de Wagt
has recommended the state government that Madhya Pradesh needs to focus and invest in the first thousand days of a child's life to end malnutrition.
Speaking during the technical session on the international conference of nutrition sensitive agriculture and nutrition literacy, de Wagt said there is a dire need to focus on reducing stunting in MP. Stunting, according to de Wagt, reflects chronic under-nutrition during the most critical periods of growth and early development of a child.
“Stunting is root cause of multiple deprivations including under-developed brain, diminished mental ability and learning capacity, reduced earnings in later life, increased risk of diabetes, hypertension and obesity,” de Wagt said.
The
UNICEF nutrition chief
said that stunted children are denied the opportunity to grow up to be skilled productive workforce capital that India will need in the future, adding that 3.3 million children under age of five years are stunted in India.
“The action lies with all of us. Government can provide policies, funding and implement programs. We need a social movement to stop child malnutrition in MP. The state requires to implement high nutrition impact programmes with elements like coverage, continuity, intensity and quality,” he stressed.
Speaking on the occasion, Michael Juma, UNICEF chief, MP also called in for an increased focus to reduce malnutrition among kids in the state.
"We have made very specific recommendation to state government and proposed to set up a technical nutrition committee to operationalise the key recommendations of this conference in order to get them implemented in letter and spirit," Juma said.
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