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New multi nutrient to fight anaemia among children
A new multi-nutrient supplement has been developed by Indian Council of Medical Research to deal with high prevalence of anaemia among children in the country. In India, more than 70 per cent of the children are anaemic even as government had been running programmes like iron and folic acid supplement distribution since past many decades.
- National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad has developed mixture
- Seven micro-nutrients including two minerals iron and zinc and five vitamins like Vitamin A, B12, folic acid, Vitamin C and Vitamin B6 are used
- It is to be inducted into mid-day meal programme shortly
Hyderabad: A new multi-nutrient supplement has been developed by Indian Council of Medical Research to deal with high prevalence of anaemia among children in the country. In India, more than 70 per cent of the children are anaemic even as government had been running programmes like iron and folic acid supplement distribution since past many decades.
The multi-nutrient mixture had been developed by National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, to deal with high prevalence of anaemia among children. It would soon be inducted into government's supplementary nutrition programmes for children like the mid-day meal scheme, ICMR Director General Soumya Swaminathan said here on Thursday.
"We have already initiated talks with Women and Child Ministry as it is seriously looking at the issue of food fortification along with Health Ministry. So they might come up with some guidelines regarding fortification of the food items like wheat and rice. And this mix would be very useful as it can be added to it," she said.
Swaminathan said initial trials of the research have been completed and they had shown remarkable reduction in anaemia levels among children. "According to the research, the anaemia prevalence among children came down to less than 10 per cent which was 48 per cent before conducting the study," a NIN official said.
"We have used seven micro-nutrients including two minerals iron and zinc and five vitamins like Vitamin A, B12, folic acid, Vitamin C and Vitamin B6. We tried it on 400 Anganwadi children which were given supplementary food nutrition by mixing it with cooked meals," the official explained, adding that the intervention was for eight months.
"The study was initiated in 2012 and completed in 2014. We are now in the process of publishing the research," he said. The micro-nutrient deficiencies, besides adversely affecting overall growth and development also lead to cognitive impairment, reduced immunity and increased morbidity and mortality.
