Provide Supplementary Nutrition

• Our goal is to supplement home meals and Mid-Day Meals that school-going children in the age group of 6-14 years consume daily. Mid-Day Meal Scheme under the Government of India provides 450 calories for students of class 1 to 5 and 700 calories for students of class 6-8.
• But unfortunately, for students from a very large number of rural and semi-urban households, Mid-Day meal is the only square meal they have in a day. Meals consumed at their homes are mostly carbohydrates and do not meet the daily calorie requirements as well as the requirement of essential nutrients.

Lack of consumption of milk, fruits, and eggs

• Highly nutritious food items such as milk, fruits, and eggs are absent in a very large number of children in the 5-19 age group across various states in India.
• For example, in the state of Jharkhand, milk is consumed daily by only 26.7% of the children in the age group of 5-9 years. Only 23.7% have fruits in their daily meals and 39.5% have eggs.
• In West Bengal, only 35.9% of the children in the age group of 5-9 years consume milk daily; 34.7% consume fruits daily.
• In Bihar, only 17.3% of the children in the age group of 5-9 years get an egg in their daily meal; 18.1% get fruits and 42.8% get milk.
  Among the group of adolescents in the age group of 10-19 years, in Jharkhand, only 31.5% consume milk or curd daily; 32.4% consume fruits daily; 38.4% consume eggs daily.

Providing Supplementary Nutrition Through Simple Meals Daily

Project Santushti is being implemented with an initial menu consisting of 1 glass of milk, 1 mid-size banana, and 1 full boiled egg consisting of 314 calories, 17.3 gram of protein, 8.4 gram of fat, and several essential micronutrients such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin B6, Zinc, Iron, Calcium, etc.

To Reduce Malnutrition in School Going Children and Early Adolescents

• In various states in India, visible malnutrition is still critical. For example, in Jharkhand, 28.2% of girls and 17.2% of the girls in the age group of 10-14 are thin. In the same age group, 39.2% of girls and 35% of the girls are short; 50.2% of the girls and 53.7% of the girls are anemic.
• In Jharkhand, 38.7% of the girls in the age group of 10-14 suffer from Zinc deficiency and 32.6% suffer from Vitamin D.

Project Santushti Will Help to Reduce Malnutrition

• Initially, with a simple meal of milk, egg, and banana, and thereafter with more meals consisting of a high amount of protein and essential nutrients will be provided. We are studying the feasibility of various other food items, cooked and dry food items, which may be provided.
• The menu under Project Santushti will evolve over time with an objective to fulfill the entire gap in nutrition in the diets of millions of children in India.

Sources:
Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016-18, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India
Adolescents, Diets, and Nutrition: Growing Well in a Changing World, The CNNS Thematic Report, Issue 1, October 2019, UNICEF