tiol Nutrition Week begins

From A Reporter

SHILLONG, Sept 1: State IT, PR and Labour Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said the main objective of the tiol Nutrition Week is to address the problems of malnutrition of mother and child prevalent in Meghalaya.

The Minister was delivering a speech as chief guest at a function organised by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Community Food & Nutrition Extension Unit (CFNEU), Government of India in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare.

The observation of tiol Nutrition Week began on Friday with a one-day State level workshop on the theme “Optimal Infant & Young Child Feeding Practices: Better Child Health”. The workshop was held at the conference hall of the Directorate of Social Welfare here.

While stating that malnutrition is due to various reasons, Lyngdoh said, “One of them is that most mothers have this misconception that nutrition is associated with money and can be bought in the market.”

She said healthy infant and young child feeding practices determine the overall development of a child. Therefore, it is crucial for parents to take special care of their child in the first 24 months, she added.

According to her, social workers have an equally important role to play to educate mothers on the importance of breastfeeding the child for the first six months because breast-milk is one of the most nutritious feed for the infants.

Lyngdoh said health workers should understand the ground reality vis-à-vis health and welfare of mothers and infants and provide support to mothers through several interventions that can benefit them.

She said, “Therefore, I call upon the young social workers to take this opportunity to go to their respective places of work and chalk out programmes and activities which can help mothers understand the significance of a healthy and balanced diet for the overall health of them as well as for their children.”