Governor calls for increased awareness on nutrition

Hyderabad, Sept 01: Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday

called for increased awareness on nutrition and urged the people to join

the mass movement to end malnutrition.

She said that malnutrition is one of the major reasons for maternal

mortality and infant mortality. It is high time that we all join hands to

realise the goal of Malnutrition-free India by 2022 as envisaged by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi through the Poshan Abhhiyan for which Rs 9000

Crores is allotted.

The Governor was delivering the inaugural address at the National

Nutrition Month-2020 programme, organised by the Sri Ramachandra

Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), through a video

conference from the Raj Bhavan, here.

Emphasising the need to have the best dietary practices and a proper diet

plan to improve immunity, Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan pointed out that

the Covid-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the need to have

better immunity levels. She also called for having a Covid-19 preventive

diet plan and post-Covid-19 diet plan to prevent and face the pandemic.

The Governor stated that traditional foods are rich immune boosters and

remembered that when she was a child, she used to relish the palm

jaggery, which is highly nutritious, given by her grandmother.

“I am anguished to see even the educated parents giving their children

junk food in excess thus making them prone to many ailments. I appeal

to the parents to feed their children with balanced and highly nutritious

food,” the Governor said.

Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan has also exhorted the people to develop

Kitchen Gardens wherever possible so as to ensure the availability of

nutritious and pesticide-free vegetables to their families.

“It is time that we not only strive to have food security but also the

nutritious food security at the same time to end the malnutrition to

ensure fit and healthy India,” the Governor added.

Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan said that KCR Kit in Telangana and Amma

Baby care Kit in Tamil Nadu are resulting in more institutional deliveries.

SRIHER Vice-Chancellor Prof. P. Vijayaraghavan, Principal Dr. Senthil

Kumar, Head, Dept of Clinical Nutrition Dr. AJ Hemamalini and others

were part of the webinar.