IE : NGO Navdrushti feeds children in a remote Thane village to counter malnutrition : Nov 13,2007

Tribal children relish idilis, appams, turn healthy

NGO Navdrushti feeds children in a remote Thane village with south Indian foods to counter malnutrition
N GANESH
IDLIS and appams, the traditional south Indian Ifoods, have become a source of nutrition for tribal children in a remote Maha­rashtra hamlet around 268 km from Mumbai.
 
As part of an initiative by NGO Navdrushti, about 120 malnourished chil­dren-up to the age of five-in Ruighar, a village located by the Wagh river in a valley nestled in Thane's Jawahar mountains, are be­ing fed with nutritious food under a three-month pro­gramme jointly funded by Sankalp (Indian students of Iowa University) and Ro­tary Club of Thane.
 
"However, the most popu­lar food items among the tribal children are idlis and unni appams," said Dr N S Tekale of Navdrushti, who first thought of the idea of feeding children with the south Indian foods.
But unlike the popular version of idli available in Udipi hotels, the tribal ver­sion looks a shade darker. "The rice used is unpol­ished and black gram is ground along with its nutri­tious outer covering which gives it a darker shade," said Dr Tekale.
 
"Earlier, I used to take the rice and black gram (udad dal) batter from Thane to the village. Four hours of travel would make the batter sour and tribal children found idlis made from that batter unpalatable. Post weaning, the diet of tribal children is not much different from adults --chappatis and un­seasoned boiled black gram," said Dr Tekale.
 
It was then Dr Sumitra, Tekale's wife and a practic­ing doctor, trained the women from the self-help groups to prepare batter from Raggi (Nachni) and black gram (udad dal). "Af­ter initial reluctance, the children have taken very well to idlis and unni ap­pams," said Dr Tekale. Un­der the programme, the children are given vouchers free of cost every month and they can exchange them for food items.
"In the last three months
 
we have seen an average growth of 13 per cent among the children. Even the ones that were critical have now stabilised," said Santosh Sable, a postgradu­ate from the College of So­cial work at Nashik who is the resident coordinator for the programme.
 
"We have seen a marked transformation among the children fed under the pro­gramme. Now their skin looks more healthy unlike that of a malnourished child," said Prabha Nikam, lecturer at the college who specialises in tribal develop­ment and is associated with the programme.
 
This is the second village in Jawahar where Nav­drushti has implemented the programme-the NGO has successfully imple­mented it in the neighboring Bobdhari village. After completing the programme
 
A superstition that causes malnutrition

Dr N 5 Tekale of Navdrushti, a botany professor at the
B N Bandodkar College at Thane, after his four years and several researches in Thane's tribal belt realised that the children were malnourished not due to the lack of nutritious food.
 
"They eat plenty of chappatis, rice, wheat or raggi and boiled udad dal, which are high in nutrient content. But nutrients in these foods can only be absorbed with the help of chemical compounds found in sourfoods such as such as tamarinds, lemon and fermented
 
food," explained Dr Tekale. But, he said, tribals don't eat anything sour like tamarinds or -mla-both locally avai-able-owing to a superstition that all sour things have evil spirits.
 
"The fermentation caused naturally by the micro-organism (Leuconostoc Mesenteroides) found on the surface of black gram enhances the body's absorption of iron and zinc, elements that play role in building body's resistance," Dr Tekale said.
 
in Ruighar on November 30, Navdrushti will take it to Chandoshi, a very poor tribal hamlet that still does not have motorable road.
 
Publication : IE; Section : Mumbai; Pg : 3; Date : 13/11/07