Fortified rice scheme brings down anaemia level in kids

Berhampur: Anaemia level among schoolchildren has fallen by over 28% in Gajapati district in the last six years making it the district with the lowest anaemia level among 11 districts surveyed by the ICMR-Regional Medical Research Center (RMRC), Bhubaneswar, recently.
Introduction of Fortified Rice Scheme (FRS) in the mid-day meals (MDM) of schools since January 2013 is one of the reasons for the drop in anaemia level, said collector (Gajapati) Anupam Saha. “The anaemia level in the district before launch of the scheme was around 65%. It has now dropped to 36.2 %,” the collector said quoting the RMRC study.
The FRS in MDM was launched in Gajapati, the only district in the state on a pilot basis in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) India on January 26, to arrest malnutrition among schoolchildren. The WFP had carried out a baseline study in early 2013 among schoolchildren aged 6 to 14 years. It revealed that 19% of the sampled children were stunted (low height for age) and 14.5% were wasted (low weight for height).
Overall 63% boys and 68% girls were affected by anaemia with a high prevalence among lower primary school children in the age group of 6 to 10 years. Half the children in the sample group had fallen ill and did not attend school regularly, the study by WFP stated.
Keeping in view the severe malnutrition among children, the fortified rice scheme was launched covering 81,314 students in 1,230 schools, he said. The fortified rice kernels (FRK) were supplied by the WFP-India for three months and LT Food for one year. “Since 2017, a Bangalore-based organisation has been supplying the FRKs free of cost,” said the collector. FRK valued over Rs 27.20 lakh has been supplied by the organisation so far, he said.
At least three micronutrients — iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12 have added to the manufacture FRKs, as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), sources said. Normal rice and FRK have been blended for three minutes inside the blending unit in proportion of 100 Kg: 1Kg at a unit in Kasinagar. The final product is made into packets of 25 kg fortified rice and sent to schools.
Last year, the NITI Ayog declared the state as champion in successful implementation and eradication of anaemia among schoolchildren through extension of fortified rice under MDM programme.