Researchers from St John’s Medical College, in collaboration with WHO-India, have designed and released a software tool to aid in designing appropriate, diversified and economical supplementary nutrition provisions for the Government’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
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Developed by Professors Tinku Thomas and Anura Kurpad at St John’s Medical College and Harshpal Singh Sachdev at the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research in New Delhi, the software tool can be customised to work as a mobile application as well. With funding from WHO-India, the software tool was developed for all States of India in association with the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) Hyderabad and several other institutions in the country. The software tool will be disseminated at an online WHO programme on August 11.
“The software tool can suggest supplementary feeding in the form of a take-home-ration or as a hot cooked meal/snack to be served at Anganwadis. It can optimise food provisions for children or pregnant women and lactating mothers, to meet their recommended needs of several nutrients, through complex linear programming,” Prof. Kurpad told The Hindu.
Based on database of local food
The tool is also unique as it is based on a database of local foods in every State and is also designed to minimise the cost of the food mixture. The tool is simple enough to be used by health workers, district program officers, frontline workers and the general public. At present it is in English with transliteration of food names, but explicit translations with dialects are on the way. The app is free to use, and is located at https://datatools.sjri.res.in/WHO/, he said.
Elaborating on the importance of the software tool, Prof. Kurpad said the first thousand days of a child’s life, between the start of the mother’s pregnancy and the child’s second birthday, is considered a unique period of opportunity and vulnerability for the mother and child. “Growth faltering in the child occurs most commonly at this time, and preventing this through appropriate feeding has long-term benefits,” he said.
POSHAN 2.0
The ICDS Supplementary Nutrition, which is delivered across India for children less than six years of age, as well as pregnant and lactating mothers, is provided to all through Anganwadi centres. “The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development’s POSHAN 2.0 sets the guidelines for the quantity of nutrients to be supplied by supplementary nutrition. This aims at providing quality protein and essential micronutrients and encourages the provision of these through local dietary inputs, and fresh produce (green vegetables, fruits, medicinal plants, and herbs), fortified rice, and millets,” said Prof. Thomas.
“However, it is a tough feat to plan diets that fulfil these guidelines. According to data collected for the app, children are getting either higher or lower energy through the provision of hot-cooked meals in 12 States. The protein recommendation of supplementary nutrition is mostly met, but there is a deficit in fat in more than 50% of the States. Through the ICDS programme, only half of the States provide milk, and there is a negligible quantity of vegetables and fruits,” she pointed out.
Based on the latest report by the Ministry there are about 10 crore beneficiaries for the programme across India. “The tool will be very useful in planning optimal diets and nutrition for beneficiaries under the guidelines and cost constraints of the ICDS supplementary nutrition program,” she added.
Published - August 09, 2023 07:51 pm IST
