| 1. |
A number of diet and nutritional surveys carried out during the past 30 years in different parts of the country have shown widespread
occurrence of deficiency diseases especially among pregnant women and nursing mothers.
Anemia due to deficiencies of iron, folic acid and vitamin B-12 are fairly common among them |
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| 2. |
The present rate of infant mortality (death before 1 year) in India is about 79 per 1000 live births-major causes being malnutrition and infection. Malnutrition in early stages of life has lasting effects on the future growth and performance of the child. In addition to diseases directly attributed to
malnutrition, it is known that malnutrition aggravates the clinical course of many infectious diseases. |
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| 3. |
As per the studies conducted by Mr.Suraj Gupta in association with USAID (India occasional paper No.4, July 1987), 50% of the people living in the cities of Karnataka and 40% of the people living in the villages of Karnataka are taking proteins below ICMR recommended levels. |
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| 4. |
Of the total 8.5 million deaths in our country in a year, 4.7 million are children. Malnutrition is directly or indirectly the real cause of death in nearly 4.2 million children. |
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| 5. |
In our country, it is the custom to breast-feed infants for prolonged periods ranging from 6 months up to even 3 years. A mother who would be secreting 800 ml.of breast milk a day would secrete 640 mg.of lysine a day. This represents doubling of her lysine requirements over non-pregnant, non-lactating situation. But cereals are too low in lysine to provide for the growth of foetus & for meeting the requirements of lactating mothers. In India, almost one third of the babies are born with low birth weights and about 65% of the pregnant women suffer from nutritional anaemia. |
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| 6. |
Studies suggest that malnutrition could stop cell division and cause stunted growth and impaired function of the brain and body. Inadequate nutrition during the critical period of rapid growth can cause irreversible damage to the brain and health of the child. Mothers of these unfortunate children often fail to notice this growth retardation which takes place slowly and silently. |
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| 7. |
There is now general consensus that women with body weights
of less than 38 kgs at the commencement of pregnancy and with heights less than 145 cms are to be considered as being at ‘risk’ during pregnancy. These are women likely to have complications during pregnancy or at delivery; they are also more likely to deliver low birth weight babies who in turn are at risk of neonatal mortality and whose growth and development are usually below par.
On the basis of data gathered by the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB), it has been estimated that 15-29% of Indian women between 20-30 years of age in 10 states of India have body weights less than 38 kgs and 12% to 25% have heights less than 145 cms. Thus a considerable proportion of women in the reproductive ages in our country are of substandard stature & thus have high obstetric risks. |
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| 8. |
In the opinion of the Nutrition Society of India, nearly two-thirds of our population is on a nutritionally deficient diet. Except for carbohydrates which is often linked to obesity, the quantities of all other nutrients consumed by a person is deficient. The middle, upper-middle and rich class are also on imbalanced diets because of ignorance about nutrition. |
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| 9. |
Protein deficiency during pregnancy may result in stress, which could give rise to complications such as vomiting, swelling of feet etc. If these symptoms are commonly prevalent, they are accepted as a normal part of pregnancy. Some think that it is a
hereditary condition. Thus due to ignorance, protein deficiency in pregnancy may not be detected and there will be no improvement in the diet. This may adversely affect the growth of the foetus and foetal stores for future. |
