Shillong,Sept.1: The Ministry of Women & Child Development, Community Food & Nutrition Extension Unit (CFNEU), Government of India in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Meghalaya today kick-started the observation of National Nutrition Week with a one day State Level Workshop on the theme Optimal Infant & Young Child Feeding Practices: Better Child Health. The workshop was held at the Conference Hall of the Directorate of Social Welfare, Shillong.
The inaugural session was graced by the Meghalaya Minister for I & PR, Labour, etc, Dr. M. Ampareen Lyngdoh as the Chief Guest and Deputy Director, Department of Social Welfare, Smti Karuna Lamar as the Chairperson.
In her inaugural address, Dr. Lyngdoh said that the main objective of this Week’s observation is to address the problems of malnutrition of mother and child which is prevalent in the State of Meghalaya. Malnutrition is due to various reasons, she said, and one of them is that most mothers have this misconception that nutrition is associated with money and can be bought in the market. She said that various healthy infant and young child feeding practices determines the overall development of a child, therefore, it is crucial for parents to take special care of their child in the first 24 months. The social workers have an equally important role to play to educate mothers on the importance of breastfeeding the child for the first six months because breast-milk is one of the most nutritious feed for the infants.
Dr. Lyngdoh said that health workers should understand the ground reality of the health and welfare of mothers and infants and therefore should provide the support to mothers through several interventions which can benefit them. Therefore, she called upon the young social workers to take this opportunity to go to their respective places of work and chalk out programmes and activities which can help mothers understand the significance of a healthy and balanced diet for the overall health of mothers as well as for their children.
Others who spoke on the occasion were Deputy Director, Social Welfare Department, Smti Karuna Lamar and Demonstration Officer-II, CFNEU, Shillong, Shri S B Singh.
