KVK, WYRA , Organised National Nutrition Week from 01.09.2023 to 07.09.2023

In 1973, the American Diabetes Association launched the first National Nutrition Week campaign to the public through radio announcements, TV countdowns, news releases and even a presidential proclamation with the theme “Invest in Yourself—Buy Nutrition”. Following this, the Government of India launched its own National Nutrition Week from 1982 with several initiatives to motivate, create awareness and educate people on healthy nutrition and its association with good health and longevity. The National Nutrition Week is observed annually from September 1st to 7th with the primary goal of raising awareness on the critical importance of nutrition and access to nutritious food for everyone. The theme of National Nutrition Week, 2023 is "Healthy Affordable Diet for All" to highlight the importance of ensuring that everyone has access to nutritious food, regardless of their income level. This theme is a reminder that everyone deserves access to nutritious food which can be achieved by working together to create a healthier India for all. Malnutrition is a major problem in India and it is estimated that nearly half of the children under the age of five are malnourished leading to a number of health problems that include stunted growth, impaired cognitive development and increased risk of common ailments. Factors that contribute to malnutrition are poverty, lack of access to nutritious food and poor hygiene practices. Steps taken by Government of India to address these problems are providing subsidies for nutritious foods, making healthy foods more accessible at schools and anganwadi centres along with educating people on importance of nutritious foods and value addition to millets. Despite India's 50% increase in GDP since 2013 more than one third of the world's malnourished children live in this country. Among these, half of the children under three years old are underweight. One of the major causes for malnutrition in India is economic inequality wherein economically weaker sections of society’s diets lack in both quality and quantity. The malnourished women are less likely to have healthy babies and nutritional deficiencies inflict long-term damage to both individuals and society as nutrition-deficient person are more susceptible to infectious diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis which leads to higher mortality rate than their better-fed peers. Also, nutrition-deficient people show low productivity leading to lower pay that traps them in a vicious circle of under-nutrition but also brings inefficiency to the society especially in a country like India where labour is a major input factor for economic production. On the other hand, over-nutrition also has severe consequences and India’s national obesity rates in 2010 were 14.0% for women and 18.0% for men with some urban areas having rates as high as 40.0%. Obesity causes several non-communicable lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases. Hence, in view of this, KVK scientists Dr. Jessie Suneetha. W, Dr. V. Chaitanya, Dr K. Ravi Kumar and Mrs. P.S.M Phanisri organised on and off campus programmes at KVK, Wyra, Pallipadu, Gannavaram, Somavaram and Vallapuram villages during the Nutrition week for promoting healthy affordable diet for all through kitchen gardens, incorporation of locally available fruits in diet, consumption of more green leafy vegetables, low-cost millet-based recipes, personal hygiene and use of proper preservation techniques. Good food and nutrition are the foundation of a child’s health and brings lots of benefits which can last for a lifetime. Teaching your child about healthy food eating from a young age will help them to have a positive mindset with food even when they grow up.