New Delhi: Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday (February 29) launched a Cartoon Coalition to promote balanced nutrition, a key target under the POSHAN scheme, and released a ‘Poshan Utsav Book’ along with Microsoft’s Bill Gates. According to the ministry, the move is expected to revolutionise nutrition awareness by engaging children through captivating storytelling through their favourite cartoon characters and other material and drive positive behavioural change in communities across the nation for desired nutritional outcomes.
Celebrating India's Nutrition Heritage with #PoshanUtsav via Cartoon Coalition! ????????????
In a momentous stride towards fostering a Suposhit Bharat, we, at the @MinistryWCD, proudly organised the Poshan Utsav, to amplify the importance of good nutrition through the first-ever… pic.twitter.com/bi9Qevsm3F
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) February 29, 2024
Speaking at the event, Ms Irani said it was under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that for the first time 18 ministries and departments came together to ensure nutrition. She said,
Nutrition as a national effort has been undertaken since the 1970s. However, when Prime Minister Modi took office, for the first time in the history of our country, not one, not two, but 18 ministries across the government of India were brought together under National flagship scheme called ‘Poshan’.
“For the first time, Prime Minister Modi was essentially of the opinion that nutrition cannot be the responsibility of one division, one desk, or one department and that is why when 18 ministries came together,” she said.
At present, around 1.2 million Anganwadi workers across the country have hand-held Poshan tracker devices, she said.
Gates, who is also the Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, appreciated the approach to communicate about health and nutrition.
“I really appreciate the creative way that the ministry is working to teach kids about food in a way that will connect with them…” he said.
Indian manufacturing has played a key role in developing low cost high quality vaccines that have saved countless lives. Companies here are also working to lower the cost of new advances in probiotics, multiple micronutrient supplements, and a single infusion IV to treat anaemia, furthering the tools available to address nutritional challenges for women and children.
“I’m optimistic that will continue to see a lot of progress in nutrition in the years ahead, and that and that India will be at the forefront of that progress,” he added.
According to the WCD Ministry, Poshan Utsav aims to leverage popular cartoon characters to advocate holistic nutrition among children through collaboration between the Ministry and Amar Chitra Katha.
To promote cultural heritage and traditional nutritional practices, a ‘Poshan Utsav Book’ has been curated by the Deendayal Research Institute (DRI) and supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The book is designed to serve as an atlas on food, offering insights from cultural, social, economic and scientific perspectives.
It seeks to revive ancient nutrition traditions, facilitating knowledge exchange and intergenerational learning.
The book will also serve as a comprehensive repository for appreciation of the rich culinary heritage and nutritional diversity of the country.
Also Read: Know Your Food: Dos And Don’ts Of Incorporating Millet In Your Diet
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
