In a remarkable initiative aimed at fighting malnutrition among children, Akshaya Chaitanya launched the “Bowl of Growth Program”, designed to nourish and support the health of 1,000 pre-school and 3000 primary school children in Mumbai. The mission focuses on three key pillars of nutrition, awareness, and education to combat child malnutrition and foster healthier urban communities in Mumbai, which will continue for six months.

Akshaya Chaitanya, an initiative by HKM Charitable Foundation to eradicate hunger as a vulnerability to unlock opportunities for the underprivileged, launched the program entitled ‘Fortified Multigrain and Millet-Based Supplementation’ will address malnutrition in 3 to 14-year-old children from urban slum communities of Mumbai. This intervention, designed based on the evidence, will be implemented in selected Balwadis and municipal schools of Mumbai.

Bhushan Gagrani, municipal commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation praised the initiative through a video message. He said that the program aligns seamlessly with the state government’s efforts to eradicate malnutrition. He emphasized that the success of this initiative underscores the strength of public-private partnerships and stressed the importance of scaling this program to reach more children across Maharashtra.

Prachi Jambhekar, deputy municipal commissioner, education planning, applauded the clinical approach to validate the improvement in children. She expressed hope to scale up the program to cover more children subsequently. She said that the program will not only support their health but also enable their studies in the longer run leading to more productivity for society and nation.

Akshaya Chaitanya has over 80 centralized kitchens across 14 states and 2 union territories serving over 23 lakh beneficiaries every day with nutritious meals. In Mumbai, Akshaya Chaitanya serves over 16,000 lunch and dinner meals daily to beneficiaries in over 30 government hospitals, 102 municipal schools and 5 slum areas. This work is carried out through their state-of-the-art, 8000 sq.ft centralized kitchen in Byculla.

Vikas Parchhanda, CEO of Akshaya Chaitanya, highlighted that malnutrition is a pressing public health crisis in India, contributing to a staggering 45% of global under-five child deaths. He said that the situation is dire in Maharashtra, with 35% of children stunted, 36% underweight, and 26% wasted. The urban slums of Mumbai face an even more alarming scenario, where 40% of children are stunted, and 14% are underweight due to poverty, food insecurity, and limited healthcare access. 

“In addition to nutritional supplementation, the intervention will incorporate structured nutrition education sessions for caregivers to improve their understanding of child health, nutrition, and hygiene practices. Follow-up evaluation will be conducted at three months for the 3 to 5-year-old Balwadi children to assess growth and health parameters, ensuring they do not progress to more severe forms of malnutrition. For the 6 to 14-year-old school children, anthropometric and anemia screenings will be conducted using non-invasive AI tools in the beginning and again at the 2-month and 4-month post-intervention,” Parchhanda added.