National Nutrition Week aims to reach millions

World Vision India will observe this year’s National Nutrition Week from September 1^st to 7^th by scheduling awareness events ranging from lectures and workshops to puppet shows and nutrition rallies in the 6252 communities where we serve.

The theme for this year’s National Nutrition Week is ‘Poshak Aahar, Desh ka Aadhar’, and is being promoted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The primary goal of the Government’s initiative is to spread the word regarding the importance of nutrition for every child and how this not only affects the health and development of the child, but how it contributes to productivity, economic growth and ultimately national development.

During this period World Vision India will also launch its ‘24-hour Famine’ , an awareness campaign across seven major Indian cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Guwahati. The campaign urges individuals to set apart a day to ‘fast’ and stand for lakhs of Indian children who go to bed hungry every day.

The 24hr campaign features events from art exhibitions to literary and cultural competitions to drive home the message.  It hopes to engage the public and youth from ages 13–30 to sensitise them on critical issues faced by 40 per cent of India's population.

 “The 24-hour famine is a step to engage the urban Indian to join the fight against malnutrition that affects more that 6.6 lakh children in India. With the 24-hour Famine coinciding with the National Nutrition Week, we hope that malnutrition will no longer be a matter of ‘national shame’,” said Dr Jayakumar Christian, CEO, World Vision India.