Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Wednesday observed the 8th Rashtriya Poshan Maah, a nationwide initiative dedicated to combating malnutrition and promoting holistic child health and nutrition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the month-long observation September 17, which aims to foster mass awareness and collective responsibility on nutrition, with a focus on women, children, and adolescent girls.
“A balanced diet and a good lifestyle are two important factors for a healthy body. Our good habits inspire our future generations. Proper nutrition of women and children is the foundation of a developed future,” said Shubha Sharma, principal secretary, Women and Child Development Department.
Underlining the theme of this year’s Nutrition Month, the guests urged people to reduce sugar, salt, and oil intake and adopt balanced diets and regular exercise to prevent lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.
Starting from all the Anganwadis of the state, group awareness programs were organised at the ICDS sector, project, district and state levels, and 54,81,952 thematic awareness programs were organised across the state, an official said.