ICDS launches therapeutic food in Trichy to tackle malnourishment

Trichy: In an effort to drive away malnutrition in severely malnourished children, Integrated child development scheme (ICDS) in Trichy is providing them ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF).
Under the government scheme ‘Ensure Nutrition’, RUTF is being provided to severe and moderately malnourished children since March 10. RUTF comprises peanuts, soya and milk proteins, non-hydrogenated vegetable oils and sugar.
The 92-gram RUTF in paste form in a sachet has been given to 2,664 children aged six months to six years in the severe category after giving them de-worming tablets. There is no compulsion to take RUTF. It will be provided for 56 days and the growth measured and recorded, said project officer P Renuga. It will be updated in TN-ICDS mobile application by anganwadi workers.
Sources say the project has shown positive changes in the height and weight of children who take it. ICDS has enumerated 715 children in the severe category and 935 in the moderate category in the zero to six months category.
In this category, instead of providing them RUTF when children rely on breastfeeding, ICDS provides them mother nutri kit. They have given two nutri kits to the mother of severe malnourished children and one to moderate malnourished children. ICDS has enumerated all children in the age group of 0 to 6 years irrespective of their enrolment in local anganwadi centres.
In Trichy district, 1.49 lakh children are enrolled in 1,850 anganwadi centres. The exercise has been done to check if the children have problems like stunting, wasting and underweight. Even though malnourishment is prevalent across the state, the issue is high in Marungapuri, Mannachanallur and Thathaingarpettai.
Malnourishment in children is the consequence of mothers not taking nutritious food in their adolescent age and during pregnancy. Personal hygiene of the children also results in malnutrition, say officials.
It may be noted that doctors working under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) also help ICDS diagnose other health issues in children and refer them to government hospitals for early treatment.