The National Health Mission (NHM), Haryana, has planned for fortification of wheat flour to prevent newborn children from micronutrient deficiencies and birth defects like neural tube defects and cleft palate.
Presiding over a two-day orientation-cum-planning meeting on food fortification organised by NHM, Haryana in collaboration with School of Public Health (SPH),PGIMER Chandigarh on Saturday, Director NHM, Haryana Dr Ravi Kant Gupta said food fortification with folic acid, iron and vitamin B could be an important intervention for reducing Infant Mortality Rate.
The meeting focused on prevention of micronutrient deficiencies with special focus on birth defects in Haryana.
He said Haryana has a high burden of under nutrition and micronutrient malnutrition across the spectrum of age, sex and socio-economic background.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) -3, 46 per cent children of less than five years of age are undernourished and 72 per cent children of 6 to 59 months and 82 per cent children of 6-36 months, 56 per cent women and 18 per cent men are anaemic. Also, vitamin A and D deficiencies are widespread. Anemia and vitamin A deficiency are major contributors to the poor immunity, frequent illnesses, poor school performance and mortality.
Deepati Gulati, Senior Associate, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) said that food fortification, especially, wheat flour fortification has a great potential of enriching the nutritional quality of food and in turn enriching the life of millions of children by giving them a healthy start to life which they rightly deserve.
This project is Haryana’s most ambitious drive that aims to make fortified wheat flour (fortified with iron, vitamin B12, vitamin A and folic acid) widely available across the State.