Jamshedpur: A study conducted by Save the Children (STC), an NGO that is engaged in implementing integrated health, nutrition and child development programme in West Singhbhum district, has revealed that nutritious diet costs twice more than energy-only diet sponsored by the government.
Based on the data, the study suggests that a diet that meets a typical household’s nutrient requirements, while taking into consideration the local dietary practices, is two times more expensive than the one that meets the household’s energy requirements only.
“Nutritious diet in a standard Indian household of six members costs at least Rs 194 per day as against the basic energy-only diet costing Rs 92 a day,” the NGO said on Tuesday.
Endorsed by NITI Aayog, the study has found that the Covid-19 pandemic leading to joblessness has had negative impact on food and nutrition security.
“We are working with the government and communities in addressing the nutritional needs of marginalised families and making sure that affordable, nutritious and indigenous food are promoted and made easily available to children and families in need,” said the director, programmes & policy impact, STC, Anindit Roy Chowdhury.
Based on the findings of the fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), the organization stated that Jharkhand is one of the states with high prevalence of child under-nutrition.
It said the condition is worse in West Singhbhum, one of the aspirational districts of the state, where the percentage of wasted, stunted and underweight children is 40.6%, 59.4% and 66.9%, respectively.
Sharing the findings and recommendations of its study, the NGO said government programmes such as PDS, take-home ration, iron folic acid supplementation and so on have the potential to reduce the cost of nutritious diet by 30%. However, the coverage of these programmes is still sub-optimal hence there’s a need to increase the momentum to deliver these interventions with coverage, continuity, intensity and quality.
The study, which found more than 196 different types of food products in the mineral-rich district, advocates promotion of kitchen gardening, forest foods and household food production to improve access to low cost nutritious food, thereby minimising the cost and affordability gap.
On the basis of the findings of its study, the NGO calls for provision of additional child grant of Rs 500 per month per child for two children for two years to contribute in reducing the poverty-borne irreversible damage to children’s physical and cognitive development.
The team conducted the study between December 2019 and February 2020 jointly with the support and cooperation of the local authorities.