Abstract

PIP: In India, interviews with mothers of 3-5 year old children living in the Badungarh slum of Patiala City in the Punjab were conducted at 4 anganwadies of the Integrated Child Development Services. The aim of the study was to determine the children's nutritional status. Anganwadies provided the same food supplement daily to 3-5 years old children. The amount provided was less than the recommended amount, however. 75% of the children were not vegetarians. Many children did not like pumpkin brinjal, spinach, and other leafy vegetables. Children's intake of cereals, pulses, green leafy vegetables, milk and milk products, meat, fish and eggs, sugar and jaggery, and fats and oils was lower than recommended allowances. The low intake of meat, fish, and eggs was likely due to the families low income. Consumption of cereals and pulses together resulted in adequate protein intake, but the low intake of leafy vegetables, milk, egg, meat, fish, and fruits resulted in insufficient intake of calcium and bete-carotene. Caloric intake was lower among the 4-5 year olds than among the 3-4 year olds (831.7 vs. 858.9 Kcal). Mothers tended to take the food supplements home to share with all the children in the households. These findings led the researchers to recommend that children eat different and more tastier types of food supplements at the anganwadies. Other recommendations include more frequent checks of food supplement stocks and better supervision.