Noticing the poor communication strategy launched in 2012 in Jharkhand on improving the malnutrition conditions of newborns and their mothers, the State Government is mulling to create the nutritional awareness programmes in regional languages so that the target audience can be reached out easily.
Speaking on this move, State Social Welfare, Women and Child Development Principal Secretary Mridula Sinha at a State-level workshop on ‘Finalising Communication Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF)’ on Thursday said, “Communication in regional languages will help us in identifying the locals. We need to frame the mother-child health communication in context to Jharkhand through precise slogans and avoid overcrowd in such communication training programmes at block, district and State levels.”
A recent finding of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials on IYCF in Jharkhand has revealed that no organised public department or agency collection considers on direct or indirect nutrition to IYCF. Moreover, there is no accessible listing for the same nutrition, as per the finding. Notably, the underweight rate among children below three years in Jharkhand is 54.6 percent which according to National Family Health Survey III (NFHS III), is the second highest across India after Madhya Pradesh.
Stressing on the solution of this drawback, State UNICEF Chief Job Zachariah said, “In our state, the need for nutrition among Mother and Child is explained only to the mother by the Sahiyaas in Anganwadi which in actual should be disseminated to the family members of the mother as well in order to fill up the social communication gap on taking care of both the mother and her child during pre and post delivery conditions.”
Medical advice suggests keeping a child on breast feeding till the age of six months. “Sadly, only 38 percent children are breastfed in the first hour of their birth and only 45 percent are breastfed within six months in our state. This lack of breast feeding leads to loss of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of new born babies,” Zachariah added.