The Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India, is organizing a series of webinars during the Third Poshan Maah being celebrated in September 2020. A webinar focusing on “Role of nutrition in Bone & Muscle Health of Adolescent girls, Pregnant & lactating women” was held on 15th September while the last in the series of webinars on the topic “School based Prevention and Management of Enteric infections in children” was organized today. The webinars were presided over by Shri Ram Mohan Mishra, Secretary, Women & Child Development, Government of India.

In the webinar on “Role of nutrition in Bone & Muscle Health of Adolescent girls, Pregnant & lactating women”, guest speaker Maj. Gen. (Dr) Raman Kumar Marwaha highlighted importance of sound bone health among Indian children, adolescents, pregnant women & lactating mothers through various research studies on the subject matter. Poor bone health is responsible for causation of 8.9 million fractures annually worldwide. Adequate calcium intake through diet, good sun exposure, food fortification, regular exercise etc., are some major suggestions provided by Maj. Gen. (Dr) Marwaha to ensure sound bone health among children, pregnant women and lactating mothers at the end of his presentation. Drawing attention to bone health of pregnant & lactating women, second guest speaker Dr Bharati Kulkarni, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, focussed on the role of nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. Highlighting her research findings, she recommended a balanced diet rich in protein, calcium, zinc, etc., Vitamin D intake, and nutrition supplement during the 'first 1000 days' of a child for high muscle and bone mass.

In the webinar on “School based Prevention and Management of Enteric infections in children”, guest speaker Dr Gagandeep Kang, CMC Vellore, outlined the prevention and management of enteric infections in 5-14 year old school children, and gave details about incidence of deaths and Disability adjusted life years lost (DALYs) due to such infections. She said that enteric infections may be water borne, foodborne or person-to person infections and may affect the gut (diarrhoea, dysentery etc), the liver (hepatitis A and E), the body (typhoid, paratyphoid, etc), or the brain (for example, cysticercosis). Prevention methods include clean water, clean food, clean environment, good nutrition, vaccines, promotion of health-education, screening (deficiencies and infections), and referral. School health services must focus on wellness of the children.

Representatives of partner Ministries and State Governments, representatives from International Organisations and Development Partners, PRI members, ICDS functionaries, State WCD representatives, Domain experts, Nutritionists, Ministry officers and others participated in these webinars.

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APS/SG