Vol. 11, Special Issue 3 (2022)

Author(s):
Phool Kumari, Anant Kumar and Tripti Dhawan

Abstract:
India is likely to be the most populous country by 2030 with 1.6 billion people. While increased investments and technological breakthroughs can improve availability, they may not necessarily translate into increased accessibility and absorption of food. Nearly 43.5% of children under the age of 5 year being under weight (the highest rate in the world) and 50% of pregnant women being Anemic in India. The nutrition security of children and women are serious issues that need to be addressed urgently (World Bank 2009). Pre-school children undoubtedly are the most crucial segment of our population. Under nutrition is a critical determinant of mortality and morbidity in young children worldwide and it is associated with 45 percent of all deaths in children under five years of age. The major forms of malnutrition are kwashiorkor (edematous) and marasmus (wasting) with or without associated stunting. In a view to know the nutritional deficiency among the rural children, the present study was conducted with an objective to assess the clinical status of pre-school children and to know the impact of Health-mix Food Prepared from Locally Available Grains on Health Status of Pre-school Children in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh an OFT was planned. Twenty children selected randomly from each of the 5 villages of Bhagyanagar block of Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh. Thus to know the health status total 100 pre-school children were selected randomly. Out of 100 only 25 pre-school children selected purposely and provided 100 gram health- mix per day per children till 180 days. The study shows that 58 children fall between 1-3 years of age while 42 children came under the 4-6 year of age. It was found that on the basis of their general appearance, 54 per cent were normal and 45 per cent were thin and obese 1% in a different village. It was found that average increased in height 3.3cm to 4.3 cm in six month and 1.1 kg to 1.3 kg in weight through use of 100 gram poshak laddu as a supplementary diet per children per day till 180 days. So, we can say that poshak laddu is very effective to combat malnutrition.