Survey boost to state’s MDM programme

  • | Thursday | 14th March, 2019

The RMRC survey also pointed out that the anaemia status among schoolchildren in Gajapati district is 36.2 per cent. The CAB report said 32.2 per cent children in the state are undernourished.“This is the first third-party survey on the impact of midday meal on health indicators of children which has shown encouraging results. Bhubaneswar: There has been a significant improvement in health parameters as well as in quality and quantity of services in the midday meal (MDM) programme in the last few years, revealed a study conducted by the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC). Several interventions by the state government in the MDM scheme has resulted in the improvement in health standards of children, enrolment and quality of service,” said Gangadhar Sahoo, the state nodal officer for MDM. The percentage of anaemia, underweight, stunting and thinness among schoolchildren has reduced remarkably in several districts, the study added.The RMRC is a permanent research centre of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Bhubaneswar: There has been a significant improvement in health parameters as well as in quality and quantity of services in the midday meal (MDM) programme in the last few years, revealed a study conducted by the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC). The percentage of anaemia, underweight, stunting and thinness among schoolchildren has reduced remarkably in several districts, the study added.The RMRC is a permanent research centre of the Indian Council of Medical Research. It conducts basic as well as applied research to understand and ultimately develop prevention strategy for diseases of regional importance.The RMRC study was conducted to monitor the midday meal (MDM) programme and its impact on nutritional and socio-academic improvements in school children.The study was conducted in 11 districts — Dhenkanal, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Balasore, Nabarangpur, Koraput, Boudh and Gajapati.According to the study, on an average 53.5 per cent children in schools where MDM is served have been found to be anaemic. Similarly 21.4 per cent children were found to be underweight while 30.5 per cent stunted.As per the 2014 Clinical, Anthropometric and Bio-chemical (CAB) report, the percentage of children with anaemia in the age-group of 5 to 9 years was 81.2 per cent and among 10 to 17 years was 74.5 per cent. The CAB report said 32.2 per cent children in the state are undernourished.“This is the first third-party survey on the impact of midday meal on health indicators of children which has shown encouraging results. Several interventions by the state government in the MDM scheme has resulted in the improvement in health standards of children, enrolment and quality of service,” said Gangadhar Sahoo, the state nodal officer for MDM. The RMRC survey also pointed out that the anaemia status among schoolchildren in Gajapati district is 36.2 per cent. In 2015, the state government had launched iron fortified project in the district. Jajpur district recorded the highest prevalence of anaemia — 83.1 per cent — among schoolchildren.The RMRC also studied various other aspects of the MDM scheme like regularity, coverage, food safety measures, logistics, availability of infrastructure, community participation and water, sanitation and hygiene practices in schools.

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