The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan recently launched “Mission Aahaar Kranti”. The mission aims to spread the message of the importance of nutritionally balanced diet. It will also promote the importance of accessibility to local fruits and vegetables.
About the mission
- The Mission is designed to address the major problem faced by India and the world, which is, “Hunger and Diseases in Abundance”.
- India produces two times the amount of calories it consumes. Still, several people are malnourished in the country.
- The mission is also co-launched by the Vijnana Bharti and Global Scientists and Technocrats Forum.
- The motto of the mission is “Good Diet-Good Cognition”.
- The mission will train the teachers. The teachers in turn will pass on the message to students. Through the students the mission aims to pass on the message to the families and societies at large.
Malnutrition in India
- According to UNICEF, India is at the tenth spot among countries with highest number of underweight children. Also, the organisation says that India is at the seventeenth spot among countries with highest number of stunted children. Both the problems of stunting and underweight are caused by malnutrition.
- Malnutrition is the major contributing factor to one-third child deaths in the country.
- According to the recent National Family Health Survey, the percentage of stunted children in 2015-16 was 38.4%. The percentage of children wasted were 21%. Wasting is prevalent in Goa, Punjab, Karnataka, Sikkim, and Maharashtra.
- More than half of Indian children are anaemic.
- Apart from children, 23% of women and 20% of men in the country are malnourished.