Anaemia is one of the important issues that should be looked into with concern,” says Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. Priyanka Chopra, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, on Thursday engaged with a group of adolescents in Bhopal and discussed important issues affecting their lives including nutrition and ways to prevent anaemia.
With this interaction, Priyanka takes her support to the issue of adolescent girls in India one step forward. A programme was organized by UNICEF on Thursday at Noor-Us-Sabah Palace.“Anaemia is a key health concern facing young girls and boys across the country but it is something that has a simple, workable solution. A blue iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablet once a week and deforming tablets every six months. It really is that simple. We need to create awareness about how these simple steps can have a huge and long-lasting impact in this generation of girls and boys and in the generations to come,” Priyanka Chopra, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, stated.
She also showed her appreciation for being able to spend quality time with the group of adolescents in Bhopal. India has the largest number of young people aged 10-19 years in the world. This age comprise one-fourth of India’s population and are key drivers of India’s future economic growth.
However, 56 per cent of girls and 30 per cent of boys in India suffer from anaemia.“Research shows that after the first year of life, adolescence is the second highest growth spurt period. Adolescents, if fed and cared well, gain up to 50 per cent of their adult weight, more than 20% of their adult height, and 50% of their adult bone mass during this period. Improving the nutrition of adolescent girls today secures the nutrition of children tomorrow,” explained James Gitau, Deputy Representative, UNICEF India.
Anaemia adversely affects the mental and physical capacity of adolecents retarding their physical development, and often affecting their memory and energy to perform daily tasks. Also anemic women give birth to children with low body iron stores, with devastating consequences to children’s health and development. “This is a critical issue for the Government of India, hence we are implementing a Weekly Iron folic acid supplementation (WIFS) programme for school-going adolescent boys and girls and out-of school girls across the country” said Sushma Dureja, Deputy Commissioner Adolescent Health Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Under WIFS programme there are four components which were also highlighted during the programme.In the State, the WIFS programme reaches out to 7,243,132 adolescents, comprising of both adolescent boys and girls in middle and high school.