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Copenhagen Consensus Center

Sector Expert Consultation on Nutrition

On 11th Oct 2017, the sector expert consultation on ‘Nutrition’ was held at the Grand Nagarjuna Hotel, Guntur. About 14 participants representing Departments of Women Development and Child Welfare (WDCW), Education, academicians and civil society organizations attended the consultation. 

 

Key participants included: Assistant Director, Project Director and Child Development Project Officers, consultants working at Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) of WDCW, Asst. Director, School Education Department, Nutrition expert from Krishi Vignan Kendra, senior professors from  Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University, Acharya Nagarjuna University and senior representatives non-governmental organizations engaged in community-based interventions to improve the nutrition of women and children. 

All experts contributed to a meaningful discussion on the solutions to address challenges in nutrition. A total of 41 interventions were listed. The list of interventions is presented below.

  1. Nutrition Education of mothers, regularly organizing exhibition pertaining to nutrition in Primary Health Centres (PHCs)
  2. Personal Hygiene and regular deworming
  3.  Develop ownership and community responsibility 
  4. Expanded and improved nutrition education and involvement at Panchayat and communities in demand creation
  5. More counselling and house visits regarding nutrition.
  6. Inclusion of Chapter on Nutrition in school curriculum.
  7. Specific research at grassroots level regarding malnourishment
  8. Micronutrient supplementation, food for pregnant women and children 0-2
  9. Need to supply Protein and Vitamin C supplements for checking anemia
  10. Continuous monitoring by doctors
  11. Lack of physical exercises amongst children. 
  12. Focus on anemia due to non-nutritional factors.
  13. Awareness regarding composition of food pre and post pregnancy. 
  14.  Immunity – Nutrition education
  15. Knowledge regarding loss of nutrients in vegetables while cooking
  16. Monitoring the consumption of right food in  bridge schools and hostels. 
  17. Inculcating habit of eating green leafy vegetables and the quantities to be taken
  18.  IT enabled Tracking system at Grassroots level regarding child nutritional status.
  19. Reduce workload of Anganwadi workers.
  20. Checking excessive use of Pesticides and fertilizers  
  21. Encourage use of Anti Oxidants (Vitamin A, C and E).
  22. Introduce local food like Ragi on alternate days instead of regularly providing rice.
  23. Redesign NRC guidelines to treat children with severe malnourishment and with related health problems
  24. Blood tests of all pregnant and lactating women to identify anemia.
  25. Checking artificial ripening of fruits
  26. Special focus on rural girls from Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community.
  27. Build the capacity of Middle Level Training Centers and Anganwadi Training Centers on nutrition focused content 
  28. Ensuring cleanliness of the person cooking food (to check Typhoid)
  29. Women & Child Welfare Department (looking after Integrated Child Development Scheme- ICDS) and Health Department coordination is required to identify vitamin deficiencies.
  30. Increase the efficiency of measurement indicators at the gram panchayat level
  31. Checking Obesity and Hypothyroidism.
  32. Working with Self Help Groups to address malnourishment
  33. Addressing underlying causes through public health + WASH + FS&L (& food and/or cash assistance where appropriate)
  34. Ban Urea for an year to promote Organic Farming.
  35. Food fortification
  36. Expansion of Government Sabala programme across the state
  37. Checking excessive consumption of processed food.
  38. Promote community-based events such as Annaprasana and Seemanthalu to promote infant and young child feeding practices and care of pregnant women by engaging the communities 
  39. Awareness regarding use of polished rice and loss iron content
  40. Therapeutic and supplementary feeding for acute malnutrition (adults and children) 
  41. Food rations to manage mild weight loss and nutrition-related side effects, and to promote adequate maternal nutrition

List of Participants