India needs to strengthen ICDS to tackle malnutrition in children: GAIN

HYDERABAD: India needs to tackle the problem of malnutrition among children now, otherwise it might lead to more expenditure on healthcare later and a drop in GDP by 3%, top Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) officials said on Monday.
"The targeting of schemes here like ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) needs to be better in order to reach children from rural areas and poverty-ridden families.There are lots of challenges with the scheme and it will definitely be a major point of discussion for us," said Marc Van Ameringen, executive director at GAIN, which was created at a special session of the United Nations General Assembly on children in 2002.
GAIN in India is helping millers in both private and government sectors in several states fortify wheat flour, oil and milk with iron, folic acid, vitamins and minerals to tackle malnutrition.
Currently, the organisation is investing around $1.8 million besides providing technical assistance to AP Foods for centralized fortified blended food (FBF) production for supplementary nutrition programme of the ICDS.
Efforts are on to replace palm oil with the healthier soya bean oil in households. Another ongoing project is the mid-day meal scheme in association with Naandi Foundation across five states including Andhra Pradesh for which GAIN has granted $2,77,200 and is trying to provide fortified wheat flour and fortified biscuits to students.
"The first 1000 days from the birth of a child are the most important in terms of nutrition to ensure a healthy adult life, and ICDS currently misses out on this important period," Ameringen added, ahead of a key global board meeting in Hyderabad.
Van Ameringen's comments come months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called malnutrition in India "a national shame" and said the country cannot rely solely on ICDS to fight the problem.
In 100 districts with the poorest child development indicators, over 40% of children were underweight and almost 60% stunted, according to the HUNGaMA survey report 2011 on malnutrituion, which prompted the PM's remarks.
Jay Naidoo, a former minister in the Nelson Mandela cabinet in South Africa and Chair of the Board of Directors at GAIN, said recent reports have projected a drop in GDP by 3% if the problem of malnutrition is not tackled soon in India.
"The cost of ensuring proper nutrition to every child in that period actually works out cheaper than what the government has to spend on healthcare for the country's poor who are suffering from various ailments, especially diabetes and heart problems," said Naidoo, who is also chairman of the GAIN Partnership Council.
"Therefore, shifting the focus to this initial period (first 1,000 days) will help save the nation's money," Naidoo said, adding that since around 40% of the world's total malnourished and stunted children are in India, nearly half their work needs to be done here.
Officials said that they were in talks with Heritage and Vijaya Dairy to enable supply of fortified milk at affordable rates in the state and were also trying to facilitate supply of fortified rice in the state.
Naidoo and Ameringen also suggested industrialising the model of providing food through ICDS by handing it over to players capable to eliminate corruption and middlemen with vested interest.