‘Ayurveda Aahara’ promoted to fight anaemia in children
21-Dec-23 05:02:01
Jaipur: With rising cases of anaemia in the state, the National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA) is promoting ‘Ayurveda Aahara’ for children. The products are prepared by NIA in consultation with experts in the food industry.
Head of department, Chemistry, at NIA, Prof Anupam Srivastava said there are a lot of health-related problems among young children due to lack of healthy nutrition and this deficiency can be filled with an Ayurveda-based diet.
Comparing prevalence of anaemia in National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015-16) with NFHS-5 (2019-21), the figures show that in children aged 6-59 months, the prevalence has increased from 58.6% to 67.1%, a jump of 8.5%.
The ‘Ayurveda Aahara’ comprises food items prepared using nutritious ingredients. Recently, NIA organized its first sensitization program on Ayurvedic diet at its campus. The program was organized in collaboration with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). In the program, information about new products of food items for Ayurveda Aahara was given by the Ministry of AYUSH.
NIA vice-chancellor professor Sanjeev Sharma said, “The growth of the food industry is increasing every day, due to which many restaurants, food counters and hotels are opening in big cities as well as small towns. Today, the demand for Ayurveda products and medicines is increasing globally, and this is a historic time for Ayurveda."
FSSAI has formulated a logo for Ayurveda Aahar to create its unique identity for easy identification and the same was launched by the Minister for Health and Family Welfare on June 7, 2022. FSSAI has undertaken widespread publicity of the Ayurveda Aahar logo through the website as well as across social media platforms.
NIA has been promoting Ayurveda for nutrition for the past few years. NIA under Ministry of Ayush had organised a three-day long Ayush Expo and Food festival from in March 2022 at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur.
SOURCE & CREDIT: TIMES OF INDIA