MISPLACED PRIORITY FOR CALORIES-INDIAN AGRICULTURE'S ACHILLES HEEL!

How can a country gloat over the fact that half of its population of children are malnourished or one in three malnourished children in the world "live" in this country? Similarly how can an Indian relish the fact that more than 16% of the child population in the country is wasted with no hope of redemption? Who is responsible for this sorry state of affairs? Of course the successive governments that held power at Delhi during the last 6 decades. The citizens of this country are badly let down by their politicians because national wealth has been wasted for unproductive, slogan based, unrealistic, non-asset creating programs with zero impact. Latest gimmick, splurging the national wealth in the name of food security, is both shocking and appalling for every honest Indian though there is little sensitivity among the ruling class which has been gorging public money under different financial scams. Recent lamentations by world agencies like UNICEF, WHO and others about the wrong direction in which the Indian agriculture is moving with least sensitivity to the nutritional needs of the population is galling. Here is a take on this important issue. 

"These estimates have come at a time when India is planning to put in place an expensive food security law aimed chiefly at banishing hunger by doling out highly subsidised cereals, largely rice and wheat - and not so much at removing malnutrition, more likely caused by diets deficient in proteins, vitamins and other vital nutrients. The menace of hunger, which used to cause starvation deaths, has in fact been surmounted to a large extent. But the country's track record in combating undernourishment seems unsatisfactory. An earlier report by another UN agency, United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), had said that malnutrition appeared more common in India than in sub-Saharan Africa. Sadly, according to Unicef, one in every three malnourished children in the world lives in India. Though questions have been raised about these figures, the statistics are worthy of attention: around 46 per cent of all children below the age of three in India are too small for their age, 47 per cent are underweight, and at least 16 per cent are wasted. Worse still, the report attributes 50 per cent of all child deaths in the country to insufficient nourishment. However, it is very important to note these are still open questions. It has been argued that some perceived stunting is due to genetic factors. Other symptoms of malnourishment could be caused by poor sanitation instead, a point that Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh made recently. So the direct causal link between improving the availability of food and ending malnutrition is not straightforward. Even without that wrinkle, the strategy for combating malnutrition outlined by the UN agency takes the opposite tack to the government's food security approach. The FAO urges the reorientation of agricultural research and development priorities to make them more nutrition-sensitive - with a stronger focus on nutrient-dense foods, such as fruit, vegetables, legumes and livestock products. It also envisages interventions in the food production system with greater emphasis on micronutrient-doped fertilisers, bio-fortified crops and a judicious blend of crops and livestock farming. It also suggests that consumer subsidies should be targeted at high-risk groups, such as the elderly and children. It stresses the reduction of losses and wastage - which currently amount to one-third of food output - to make more food available for human consumption and reduce pressure on land and other natural resources. Few of these central recommendations factor in the government's food security approach. Nor is sanitation given the focus it deserves. The government needs to revisit its food security proposals and rework them".

Government of India does not seem to be too much concerned about its misplaced food security perceptions based on which the Ordinance on food security was gazetted recently. In all likelihood this Ordinance will be passed by the politicians of all hues and colors supposed to be debating about its relevance or adequacy without realizing its consequences because they all consider it as a populist scheme with high vote garnering potential! The corner stone of the food security scheme is that poor should not die because of hunger! By providing about 800 kC of energy through the cereals which are offered at Rs 1-3 per kg out of the daily need of 2000 kc, poor can be kept at low starvation levels without allowing them to die! Important nutrients like proteins, essential fats, vitamins and minerals are totally ignored and with their prices ruling very high in the market, poor can never hope to access them to supplement the grains offered at throw away prices. High priority given to crops like Sugarcane, Cotton and Cereals ignoring nutrient loaded Pulses, Oil seeds and Fruits and Vegetables in the national agricultural policy favors commercial interests more than that of the citizen and must be corrected immediately. If the present situation continues this country is going to be weighed down by a population, with a substantial segment, characterized by low productivity and stunted growth!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ROTAVIRUS INFECTION-HOW SERIOUS IT IS IN INDIA?

Rotavirus infection is known to cause serious damage to health especially among infants and children and the symptoms include severe diarrhea and consequent dehydration leading to death if not properly treated. About half a million children are reported to be dying yearly world wide because of Rotavirus infection. The virus attacks the cells that line the small intestine causing diarrhea. Though about 2 million infections are reported world wide, it is believed that every child is exposed to this virus at least once till it reaches the age of 5. The most common of the 5 types, Rotavirus A accounts for 90% of the infection and vaccines are now available for infants for routine administration. Most children gain immunity if infected mildly and as they grow they do not face any threat subsequently. In the absence of reliable statistics about this infection in India, it is difficult to conclude as to how many cases of diarrhea occurring in the country can be attributed to this virus. Still the recent news that a low cost vaccine has been developed in India is indeed welcome. Here is the report which highlights the achievement of Indian virologists.

While two common vaccines against rotavirus made by GSK and Merck cost around Rs 900 per dose, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech plans to sell the Indian product at Rs 54 (one dollar) per dose. Children need three dosages at sixth, tenth and 14th weeks of their lives.   Developed after 28 years of research, the indigenous vaccine against rotavirus shows promise in clinical trials. The last part of the trial (phase–III) demonstrates 60 per cent efficacy and lesser number of deaths. The two commercial vaccines too have similar efficacy in India.  Diarrhoea is the third leading killer of children in India, accounting for 13 per cent of all deaths in children below five years and kills an estimated 3,00,000 children each year, almost half of which are caused by rotavirus. Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhoea causing 4,57,000 to 8,84,000 hospitalisations, two million outpatient visits and 1,22,000-1,53,000 deaths.  A Global Enteric Multicentre Study – published in the "Lancet" on Tuesday – showed one in five children in the developing countries of Asia and Africa below two years of age suffered from moderate-to-severe diarrhoea each year, which not only increased their risk of death 8.5 times more, but also led to stunted growth over a two-month follow-up period.

Viewed from a global perspective a vaccine that costs one twentieth of that made in developed countries can be of immense relevance to most nations in Asia, Africa and South America. If the vaccine is eventually produced commercially no effort should be spared to distribute the same to fellow countries for massive inoculation of infants at an early stage. International organizations like WHO and UNICEF must take action to promote this vaccine though there may be stiff resistance from the existing private vaccine manufacturing industry as it may impinge on their business.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

LICKING THE MALNUTRITION SCOURGE-INEFFECTIVENESS OF GOI PROGRAMS

If any Indian citizen wants to go through a depression phase, please read the stinging criticism of GOI's program, spending billions of rupees to tackle the problem of malnourished children in the country! What a pathetic situation that exists in thousands of nutrition management centers where thousands of workers are employed on the pay role of the government! In spite of such resource allocation the country is not able to make any substantial impact on the sorry conditions under which millions of children live with no hope. Why such insensitivity? Conceded that in a democracy there can be small gap between targets and actual accomplishments but not this type of gaping hole in the program with criminals and shameless touts, siphoning of the earmarked funds through devious means. Capital punishment in this country must be reserved for such culprits who make money at the expense of poor children! Here is a report of the Controller and Auditor General about this massive financial misappropriation.

"A decade after a CAG audit revealed how a scheme to help infants and young children was failing, a fresh report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday says the number of malnourished children exceeds the 40% mark in 10 states as on March, 2011. The audit of the flagship Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) says 49% children in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar (82%), Haryana (43%), Jharkhand (40%), Odisha (50%), Rajasthan (43%), UP (41%) and Delhi (50%) are moderately to severely malnourished".

in stead of proclaiming from the house top catchy slogans like aam aadmi, gharibi hatao, food security and cash transfer, governments at the center as well as in the states must concentrate on plugging the holes in the program. It is time that a separate dedicated cadre of committed service oriented rural development personnel is created with short time training for managing children's program. The service conditions for them should be such that their performance should be measured in terms of percentage of children uplifted through their service as certified by health specialists.   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

IS BUTTER DEADLY FOR CHILDREN? NEW SCARE MONGERING!

It looks like that raising undue alarm about many common foods taken by consumers is a fashionable thing to do, at least for those who want to be in the lime light! Otherwise how can one justify a recent report highlighting the dangers of giving butter to children in their diet by mothers wishing to see their children grow fast and healthy! According to a "study" published recently food provided to children should avoid butter as it may lead to obesity in later life. It is true that butter does contain cholesterol and the role of this metabolite in developing arterial plaques is well known. But to argue that for young kids who are highly active butter would pose dangers is nothing but scare mongering. Poor children are not to be given sugar, salt and fatty products but still pundits want them to grow normally! It is time that the so called health pundits realize that any food ingredient can be dangerous if consumed in uncontrolled amounts and butter cannot be singled out for such malicious propaganda. Here is the report which blames parents for including butter in the diet of their children.  

A new study on food preference of schoolchildren and influences exerted by their mothers on food choice suggests that over 50 per cent of the mothers do not have an inkling of the connection between diet and heart disease and cholesterol. Around 80 per cent of the mothers are clueless on the role of diet in developing cancer later in the life."Despite high prevalence of obesity among both mothers and children, mothers do not tend to associate overweight with an unhealthy diet or ill-health in the short or long term," said the study carried out on 1,800 children from 24 schools and the same number of mothers. Six schools each were selected from Delhi, Agra, Pune and Bangalore for the study. The research, which will appear in the journal "Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism" in a month's time, coincides with the "Global Burden of Disease" data that flag poor diet as the number one risk factor for the death and disease burden in India. "We are increasingly adopting unhealthy eating habits. The consumption of processed food, high-salt snacks and chips, pizza, burger and cola are on the rise while intake of fresh fruit and vegetables are going down," Lalit Dandona, research professor at the Public Health Foundation India, who is not connected to the study, told Deccan Herald. Many mothers were not concerned about childhood weight gain. 

Universally the first principle of keeping oneself healthy is to consume a mixed diet containing whole cereals and pulses, varieties of fruits and vegetables in liberal quantities and milk, Of course lean meat and fish in limited quantities are welcome. If obesity has become a global problem, with most such people residing in the US, it is due to consumption of too much calories, salt, sugar and fat and highly refined cereals. What type of message is being sent to mothers through such convoluted theories and surveys which are deceptive and misleading? There are well laid down dietary guidelines, nationally and internationally put in place by experts and one need not get scared by this type of reports from time to time by authors based on half baked studies! 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE CAFFEINE "MANIA"-AN EMERGING NEW TREND

Caffeine is a natural stimulant and consumers get this into their system generally by consuming beverages like Coffee, Tea and Cocoa. While human body has the necessary ability to metabolize Caffeine, there is no clear cut consensus regarding the safe limit for daily consumption. While a 400 mg per day Caffeine intake can be considered tolerable for fully grown adults, many countries are trying to restrict the level to 180 mg per day for teenagers after the food industry started selling so called "energy drinks" with high caffeine levels targeting the younger generation consumers. Latest mad thing to happen in the US is marketing of a concentrated caffeine product in the form of drops with each drop designed to deliver a whopping 60 mg! As the regulatory authorities are more a puppet in the hands of the powerful industry, there does not appear to be any restriction, as of now, for marketing such products. Here is a take on this crazy development in that country.

"Each half-teaspoon serving of Mio, which is sold by Kraft Foods, releases 60 milligrams of caffeine in a beverage, the amount in a six-ounce cup of coffee, the company says. But one size of the bottle, which users can repeatedly squeeze, contains 18 servings, or 1,060 milligrams, of caffeine — more than enough, health specialists say, to sicken children and some adults, and even send some of them to the hospital. Several countries are reining in sales of energy drinks, pointing to the risks of excessive caffeine consumption by teenagers and even some adults. By year's end, Canada will cap caffeine levels in products like Monster Energy, Red Bull and Rockstar. Also countries like Mexico, France and India have or are considering steps including taxing the drinks more heavily to discourage their use".

It is true that Caffeine consumption keeps the consumer alert and therefore taking natural beverages containing Caffeine is understandable. But when it comes to children, young kids, old people, pregnant women, young nursing mothers and health compromised people Caffeine can pose serious problems. It is reported that there are at least 12000 emergency cases attended to in US hospitals every year with some casualties on account of Caffeine consumption. The habit forming properties of Caffeinated drinks are well known and if high Caffeine containing beverages, both natural and man-made, and Caffeine concentrates like Mio and tablets are allowed a free run in the market with no apparent restriction, it is a question of time before a major health crisis confronts the world!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

WHETHER CALORIES OR NUTRIENTS, IT IS NO WIN SITUATION IN INDIA!

In spite of dire predictions about the fate of the country, in the face of crushing burden of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, India seems to be plodding on without any catastrophe as being talked about for a long time. But if the statical figures coming out of this country with a massive population of almost 2 billion are taken seriously, billions of rupees invested by successive governments in the name of poverty alleviation and welfare of the so called "aam aadmi" or the "common man",  do not seem to have made any lasting impression at the ground level. Poor people continue to be poor and hungry ones reconcile to their fate! More shockingly some of the parameters used to measure human development progress reveal a distressing trend with no ready answer for this pitiable state or ready solution to lick the problem. GDP figures or per capita income growth does not tell the true story because here is a country which has made rich people richer and poor ones poorer and average figures do not reflect the agony and anguish most people are going through! Every Indian has to hang his head in shame when confronted by global reports about the tragedy  of Indian children under a democratic dispensation! Is this the cost of development which appears to be not inclusive, benefitiing only a few people in the country?. Is there no hope or salvation to millions of impoverished people in the country who dream of just a simple life with adequate food, security and self respect? Some how the government of the day is imagining that distributing food grains at subsidized cost or badly implemented welfare schemes which never reaches the beneficiaries, will mislead the world. Reports about muti billion rupees scams in the telecom sector or coal sector or in the real estate sector, even if not proven conclusively and the alleged black money hoardings in foreign countries, do not inspire confidence that there can be a turn around in the fortunes of the poor in the forseable future. Here is an incisive analysis about the situation that is unfolding in India.

"While nutritionists and economists debate the importance of targets defined solely in calories, other data shows gains in nourishment also stalled. In the 2005 National Family Health Survey, when India last weighed, measured and counted its children for signs of hunger, it found 46 percent -- 31 million -- weighed too little for their ages, almost an entire Canada of malnourished under-three-year-olds. In 1999, that number was 47 percent. Some indicators worsened: 79 percent of children had anemia, against 74 percent in 1999; 19 percent were wasted -- weighed too little for their height -- up from 16 percent. Anemia prevents the absorption of nutrients; as do the diarrhea and other diseases caused by poor hygiene and sanitation. In sheer numbers, 4 out of 10 malnourished children in the world are Indian, more than in all of Africa. War-torn Sudan and famine-struck Eritrea had smaller percentages of malnourished children, at about 32 percent, according to the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute. India's hungry children are likely to have lower cognitive skills, grow up to be weakened workers, suffer from chronic illnesses and die prematurely, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. Hunger stalks them into adulthood too: 21 percent of all Indians are undernourished, according to Ifpri, up from 20 percent a decade ago. All of which costs the country about $68 billion a year, or almost 4 percent of GDP, according to Veena S. Rao, who heads nutrition initiatives for the government of Karnataka, the Indian state that encompasses the city of Bangalore. "The problem of malnutrition is a national shame," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in January, in one of about 50 public speeches where he has mentioned the subject. "Despite impressive growth in our gross domestic product, the level of under-nutrition in the country is unacceptably high." India has collected reliable and consistent national data on nutrition since 1972, soon after setting minimum daily intakes of about 2,100 calories a day for city residents, who are assumed to be less physically active. The level for rural- dwellers was pegged at 2,400 calories on the basis that tilling fields, harvesting crops and drawing water require greater exertion".

To add insult to injury, the head of the government proclaims from the roof top that nutrition problem is a national shame without giving any clue as to what he was doing during the last 7 years he has been in power or what plans he has, different from the past, to tackle the problem! His minister for environment seems to be obsessed with programs for building toilets in rural areas where open defecation is commonly accepted practice though one cannot find fault with his focused efforts. If people do not have sufficient food to eat what difference it makes where they defecate. The realization does not seem to be dawning on the rulers that poverty and unhygienic situation go hand in hand and unless an integrated approach is thought about no amount of money invested will show any result at the ground level. It was not long ago that administrators of toilet building program in Karnataka realized, how, within a matter of a few months , most toilets were converted into additional rooms for day to day use including for pooja purpose! The present proposal to increase the toilet grant from Rs 3500 to Rs 10000 is unlikely to improve the situation dramatically unless the hunger in the belly is doused. For this to happen, government will have to ensure that corruption in welfare programs so rampant in the country is eradicated ruthlessly so that beneficiaries get fully what is due to them. Unless and until this happens, the wheel of poverty and hunger will roll on and on with no let up!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD INSECURITY AND OBESITY-A "WEIRD" RELATIONSHIP!

Common sense tells that shortage of food or inaccessibility to food is associated with hunger, bad health and under nourished conditions and there is a direct relationship between poverty and under nutrition. Naturally talking about poverty as a cause of obesity does not make any sense. Unfortunately many families with low income and food insecurity have members tending to be over weight or obese, a contradiction hard to understand. This riddle is sought to be resolved by a recent study where it was found that poverty modulates the eating practices with children being fed with more food than it is necessary by the mothers under the impression that they are protecting their children from under development. Here is a take on this issue as reported recently from the US.

"Being worried about not having enough food to feed one's family, a situation called food insecurity, is common in low-income families. These families often are overweight, too. "Understanding the reasons why poverty puts families at greater risk of obesity is essential to addressing the epidemic," said study lead author Rachel Gross, MD, MS, FAAP, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York. Dr. Gross and her colleagues at the New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, interviewed 201 low-income mothers with infants younger than 6 months about their feeding styles (whether they tried to control how much the child ate), feeding practices (e.g., breastfeeding, adding cereal to bottles) and concerns about their child becoming overweight. Studies have shown that feeding patterns leading to obesity often begin in infancy. The mothers primarily were Hispanic, and all participated in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Results showed that about one-third of the mothers reported food insecurity". 

Probably there may be some truth in this paradoxical situation as every mother considers her children precious gift to be nurtured at any cost and what else is more important than food? Therefore early feeding practices shape the attitude of the growing children to food and the habit of gorging on food continues during adulthood and later. How such a seemingly contradictory situation can be addressed is a complex question requiring inputs from sociologists, psychologists, nutritionists and government administrators. Constant help from the medical community in the form of counseling to such families may be of some help but the logistics to arrange such services are considered difficult. Ultimately education is the right answer and more literate the family, better will be the chances for understanding the nuances of eating healthy food in correct proportions. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com