Malnourished and under nourished children in India-A reality check

Food, health and life are intricately interlinked and unless there is a balance and moderation in food intake, health is bound to be seriously affected adversely. An oft repeated question is whether the world to day is a better place to live compared to that which existed 5-6 decades ago? If the yardstick for measuring the quality of life is the health, definitely it is much worse than before. There is terrible inequality in accessing available food across the population with opulent countries enjoying a surplus of foods which are very often wasted ignoring the pitiable living conditions of millions of people spanning the three continents Asia, South America and Africa. The two aspects of food which are important to be kept in mind are quality and quantity. In many developed countries quantity of food available, if taken on an average, is more than sufficient to meet the calorie needs of their population. What is sorely missing is the quality of food consumed by them which leaves very much to be desired. Look at the health status of people in the US where more than half the population is over weight while almost one third is afflicted by obesity epidemic. This raises the inevitable question as to what constitutes a good diet and what happens if the diet is not based on factors that influence maintaining of good health.

As a thumb rule,human beings generally need about 2000 kCal, 50 g of proteins, 50 g of fat, 25 g of dietary fiber, 8 essential amino acids and two essential fatty acids which human body cannot make and vitamins and minerals. Water, though not considered a nutrient is also essential corresponding to an intake of 1 ml per calorie ingested. This is supposed to be a golden guideline for preventing development of many health disorders in life and can be easily met by judicial combination of natural food ingredients like cereals, pulses, milk, nuts, fruits, vegetables with or without animal based foods like meat, egg and fish. If the above assumption is correct why is that Americans eating rich foods including an abundance of highly nutritious animal based products still suffer from many diseases to day? Answer to this lies in the fact that the cereals they consume are highly refined devoid of practically all natural nutrients, most calories coming from highly refined white sugar or HFCS, heavy consumption of fat rich foods such as fried ones, baked goods etc and eating too much animal products. It is only recently that a scientific study in the US brought out the startling truth that eating even a small amount of whole grains about 33 g a day can reduce the chance of premature death very significantly! 

What about situation that is obtaining in India? Here again there are sufficient foods available in the country to meet the needs of every citizen but the access to these foods is constrained by economic factors. For many poor people constituting almost 40% of the country's population high quality foods like milk, pulses, egg and meat in sufficient quantities are beyond their reach. This problem is all the more intractable in the rural hinterlands of the country where most poor people live eking out a dreary existence. The highly unpredictable agricultural situation and lack of opportunities for engaging in income generation avocations make matter worse! The much touted Food Security Act does promise almost 1000 kCal of food in the form of very low priced cereals like rice and wheat, while other needs like proteins, fat and some of the essential nutrients are ignored in the scheme of things. All government programs designed so far and being implemented are just to keep hunger away among the poor people but do not bother about the quality of the food distributed under the social responsibility umbrella. 

The most recent circus government is doing under the FSA is giving away rice at Re 1 per kg and wheat at Rs 2 per kg for almost two thirds of the country's population whether all of them really deserve them or not based on economic criteria. The existing school feeding programs are also heavily loaded in favor of cereals. There are supposed to be about 7 lakh kitchens staffed by 26 lack cooks cum helpers serving about 11 crore children in thousands of schools across the country, probably the largest socially oriented scheme any where in the world. This is no doubt a tremendous feat worth appreciating and admiring. Unfortunately these numbers hide more than what they reveal. The program claims to provides about 300 kCal of energy and 16 g of protein for every kid though no one knows how far this target is fulfilled by cooking foods in these school kitchens out of cereals supplied by the government. Providing calories and proteins once a day may be theoretically adequate partially as far as nutrition is concerned but does it fill the tummy of the child who comes to the school hungry? Hardly! Many kids are reported to be coming to the school with empty stomach and wait eagerly till lunch time to get their share of meals cooked at the school. If this is so can the children be expected to concentrate on the lessons taught in the class rooms?

Some pundits have suggested that government should consider providing break fast also to the school kids besides the midday meals   May be a good suggestion but where is the end for such freebies , especially in a country like India not considered to be very rich to squander its resources? A honest citizen often wonders what is the role of the government in welfare of a citizen? A family which spawns a child has no responsibility to look after it and see through its adulthood and further till it can stand on its own legs? Look at India to day where there are government freebies for practically every thing from conception till the end whether they deserve them or not! If government has to give free medical service, child care service, educational service, housing service, subsidized transportation, special allowances for female children, heavily subsidized food grains, pension for old age population and widows, write off loans taken from government banks, provide subsidized fertilizers to farmers whether rich or poor and many other hidden economic help, what is the role of the parents? In this case if breakfast and lunch are provided at school, what else parents have to do? How can a child consider his parent as his own if they are not providing him with food at home? After all government is even giving jobs under NREGA for at least 100 days that puts about Rs 15000 in the hands of many laborers who declare that they do not have any other income.With Rice and Wheat being made available at Rs 1-2 per kg where is the problem in feeding the children at home? If low response to the NREGA scheme as reported in Karnataka is really true, poor people might be hard to find who are enamored by the Rs 15000 that can be earned by working for 100 days! May be there are a few genuine cases with extremely low income who must be identified  as targets for such freebie schemes.             

Many NGOs and international bodies are lamenting that 1 out of 3 children in India is malnourished and world's largest malnourished children live in India. It may sound shocking that 50% of childhood mortality is attributed to malnutrition and under nourishment. Similarly another stock claim is that 46% of children below 3 years of age in India have low Body Mass Index (BMI) which is supposed to be a manifestation of undernourishment and malnutrition. They further aver that inadequate food in quantity and nutritional quality during pregnancy, lactation and after birth are responsible for this sordid situation. One of the critical deficiencies being focused is essential fatty acids (EFA) like Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids which are necessary for proper development of brain, eyes and preempting onset of diseases like CVD, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's, dementia and others during growth later. Plant foods are not considered excellent sources of these essential fatty acids and well to do population derive them from fish and marine food sources. But two plant sources Soybean and Sunflower seeds can be significant sources of EFA , both Omega-6 and Omega-3 and all the programs presently running under the food service schemes must consider including one or more of these oil seeds in the meal recipes being followed.  

V.H.POTTY

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NEW PROTEIN TARGETS FOR EUROPEANS-HOW RELEVANT ARE THEY?

Protein is a food component that is essential for body growth and maintenance. After water protein is the most abundant molecules in the body. They are also the major structural component of all living cells. If adequate intake through every day food is not ensured many deficiency symptoms are manifested and therefore minimum daily intake has to be arrived at to prevent such contingencies. Usually terms like Dietary Reference Value (DRV) and Population Reference Intake (PRI) are used by nutritional experts to indicate the levels of protein that need to be consumed daily for different segments of population. Protein needs vary from people to people and they depend on variable factors like age, gender, level of physical activity, etc. Each country arrives at these values in consonance with international bench mark standards. While children and adolescents in general require more proteins, adults and grown ups need lesser proteins for keeping good health. As protein is an integral part of growth phase, its need for growing children is naturally higher as expressed in terms of unit body weight. 

Deficiency of proteins was a burning issue during nineteen fifties, sixties and seventies and most populations in countries in the African, Asian and South American continents were identified as targets requiring massive need for protein foods of good quality. Many government nutritional programs were launched to evolve low cost protein-rich foods for distribution in these protein-stressed countries and reduce or prevent malnutrition-precipitated disease like Kwashiorkar, Marasmus etc. It was later realized that protein deficiency alone could not be blamed for the poor health conditions of people here and energy deficiency also contributed its part in depriving the people of normal healthy life. Ultimately it is the economic conditions that prevail in these countries which are responsible for denying the economically weak population access to good foods, balanced in terms of calories and proteins, besides micro nutrients. In all nutrition interventional programs, it is important to set up bench mark standards for assessing the status of the target population vis-a-vis protein adequacy in the diet. It is here that DRV and PRI become highly relevant. If PRV figures are low, it is necessary to segregate that segment of the population who are not able to afford intake of proteins to the average figures. Efforts must therefore follow to ensure proteins as per DRV are supplied under nutritional programs.

There has never been unanimity among nutritional pundits regarding the minimum protein intake that is necessary for good health. As a thumb rule 25% of energy intake can be accounted for by the proteins present in the diet. But each country tries to come up with its own daily intake values for various nutrients though international agencies like WHO and FAO have well established nutritional guidelines. Why it is necessary to evolve separate standards for each country is still not clear and what is the problem in following these guidelines arrived through extensive inter-country consultations, is not very obvious. Americans and Canadians preach to consume 46 gm of proteins daily by the women in the age range 17-70 while the corresponding figure for men is 56 gm. Further an average figure of 0.85 gm per kg body weight is followed as a general rule. Protein intake can be as high as 125 gm per day for very active people like athletes and heavy duty workers. Health food industry promotes a diet rich in protein, low in fat and medium levels of carbohydrates (about 50%of calorie intake). 

Recent efforts by the European Food Safety Authority to set out minimum protein targets required for good health are some what puzzling.  According to its latest recommendations an average adult needs about 0.83 gm of proteins daily working out to about 58 gm for a person with 70 kg body weight. Except for a minor change these figures are practically same as that existed before and why this exercise was needed is intriguing. After all, in most countries in Europe where meat based diets predominate, even a small portion of chicken, about 75 gm in weight provides about 30 gm of proteins, more than 50% of the daily need and protein deficiency is a non-issue. Obviously these values have been revisited for guidance to the industry for arriving at figures for inclusion in the nutrition information in the front of the label packaging. Where the new guidelines are more illuminating is the attempt to put down DRV figures for infants, children, adolescents, pregnant women and breast feeding women separately which probably makes some sense. Additional intake of proteins to the extent of 1 to 28 gm per day during different stages of pregnancy as being suggested is indeed welcome.  Recommendation for increased protein intake to the extent of 19 gm a day for breast feeding women for the first 6 months and 13 gm there after is also very eminent. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A PM "WAKES" UP!-DISCOVERS HUNGER A NATIONAL SHAME!

According to Global Hunger Index (GHI) India ranks 67 on its scale, with many sub-saharan African countries doing much better than it on the hunger scale.  GHI is a calculated indicator based on statistics provided by national governments and combines three critical factors that include proportion of undernourished people as percentage of total population, prevalence of underweight children lesser than 5 years of age and mortality rate of children. Between 1990 and 2011, world, as a whole has been able bring down GHI from 19.7 to 14.6 reflecting the success of projects initiated to tackle this human problem. However the progress has not been even with some countries achieving creditable performance while many others struggle to make any dramatic break through.

Take the case of India which is reported to have a score of 23.7 in 2011, considered reasonable compared to its GHI score of 30.4 in 1990. The concept of GHI is based on the scores calculated from published data and lower the score better would be performance of a country. A score of less than 5 is considered to be synonymous with low prevalence of hunger, between 5 and 9.9 moderate, 10-19.9 serious, 20-29.9 alarming and beyond 30 extremely alarming. It cannot be a consolation for India that it has reduced the GHI score significantly during the last 20 years, a decline of almost 20% but further scrutiny of the data reveals the despicable truth that since 2001 the GHI figure is almost static hovering around 23-24 reflecting nil progress in its fight against hunger. The ruling political dispensation at Delhi will always have excuses for this moribund state of affairs vis-a-vis hunger and poverty.

While government data cannot be believed totally, there are a few Non-Government Organizations (NGO) which have high credibility and reliability among the people concerned with the health of the nation. According to a recent survey by Naandi Foundation, an NGO with considerable reputation, 42% of Indian children under the age of 5 years are malnourished while 59% suffer from various degree of stunting and underweight. What are the chances of these children ever growing to be a normal citizen when they are able grow to become adults? Probably very low because the critical phase of development in humans take place in the first two years after birth and after the age of 5 years the odds of reversing the consequences of childhood nutrition insufficiency are very great. Mr Prime Minister of this country is right in at least asserting that such a situation is serious and admitting it as a national shame! Why his team which has been ruling the country since 2004 has not been able to make any dent in the hunger front, in spite of squandering billions of rupees on different programs touted to be designed to tackle this very same problem? Added to this, country's farmers are committing suicide at the rate of 48 per day with no end in sight for stopping this trend.       

If impartial observers are to be believed more shocking fact emerging out of the survey by Naandi Foundation covering 70000 house holds is that almost 60% of the children under the age of 5 years are under weight with stunted growth. In contrast children from rich families "suffer" from eating too much foods, rich in fat, but poor in proteins and micronutrients, leading to overweight and even obesity. Lack of education for the rural mothers, inadequate sanitary awareness, unsatisfactory personal hygiene, delivery of children in make shift facilities in stead of decently equipped hospitals, inappropriate diet, wrong feeding habits all contribute to sub-par health of the children born in rural areas. Can the Rs 32 per day per person poverty line as propounded by the National Planning Commission  eradicate hunger? Will the proposed Food Security Bill offering cereals at throw way prices to vulnerable families in rural and urban areas make any dramatic impact on the hunger front? Unlikely because the much discredited PDS system, on which the distribution logistics are to be entrusted, has proved beyond doubt its "impotence" to deliver the food to the beneficiary in quality and quantity due to miserable management and massive pilferage. 

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE SCHOOL MEALS-AN AVOIDABLE CONTROVERSY

India's school lunch program is internationally hailed as one of the most enduring social commitments though there are lot of critics who question the efficiency of the entire system. According to the avowed policies of Government of India (GOI), no child should remain hungry due to poverty and huge funds are earmarked regularly in the annual budgets for meeting the expenditure involved in supplying foods in schools and other institutions specifically for children and other vulnerable populations like pregnant women. Providing meals at the schools is supposed to have the added advantage of attracting young children to educational centers to achieve universal literacy and prevent alarming drop out rates. According to official statistics there are about 220 million children of school going age, 4-12 years but about 5% are left out because of many social and economic factors. Leaving out almost a million children from the human resource pool of the country cannot be justified under any governing system and it was hoped that providing good meals during the lunch time would increase the school enrollment significantly.

During early stages of applied nutrition programs in the country, there was preference for processed foods because of ease of handling and account keeping. The Energy Food "era" which covered a substantial portion of the student population could not last with many vested interests blaming the the quality and monotony of the dry product which were not "liked" by the beneficiaries and the hot food craze that started in Tamilnadu was touted as a better alternative though such a concept was fraught with logistical nightmares. The unclean environment in school facilities, shortage of clean water, necessity for cooking fuels and other input materials and the personnel need for cooking were all considered constraining factors. It was realized that mid-day school food program could also create local employment which made the policy makers to lean towards the "hot meal" proposition. With meager financial allocation per child the benefits derived were found to be not up to the expectation and soaring food inflation contributed further to this sense of inadequacy. An allocation of less than Rs 3 per child cannot be expected to provide sufficient calories, protein and other nutrients, let alone the desirable taste appreciated by the beneficiaries. This is where the help and cooperation of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) with credibility and good track record was sought by GOI.

One of the most remarkable successes in the joint endeavor for providing school lunches was by the International Society for Krishna Conscience (ISKCON) which changed the way the program was being conceived in Delhi. If one can keep aside the religious or cult image of ISKCON, the track record of this NGO was spectacular after it was roped in as a partner by the government. Even there was an image make over when ISKCON floated a separate trust by name Food for Life Foundation to run the school feeding program. Its Akshaya Patra program, being run in seven states covers 6500 schools and 1 million children which of course is a small drop in the ocean. But it has shown the way how the program can be run on modern lines with quality and safety of foods supplied to the schools better than any thing the children have ever tasted in their life. Serving rice or roti, sambar or dal and curd unlimited, to provide at least 550 kCals in hot condition with steaming aroma emanating from the prepared foods, the program has already established its USP as far as children are concerned. Compare this with the GOI norm to provide only 360 kilo calories which cannot be expected to extinguish the hunger in the belly.

Another dimension to this remarkable endeavor is the technological break-through achieved by the organizers in revolutionizing the preparation technology and the 14 kitchens run by them are technological marvels. Each kitchen equipped with industrial steam generators, large mechanized vegetable cutters, huge pumps capable of transferring liquid foods like dal and sambar at mind boggling rate and the 3-level gravity based flow process, has capacity ranging from 50000 to 250000 meals a day. Though most handling is by mechanized systems, there is an employment content here with each kitchen having 150 to 300 workers on its roll. Remarkably some of these kitchens are even ISO certified while the Foundation is planing to engage consultants for quality and safety auditing on a regular basis in future. The hot products from these are delivered in stainless containers to the schools directly in specially designed vans to be served hot to the students in their own environment.

It is realized that such huge kitchens can serve only urban schools whereas thousands of schools in rural areas cannot benefit from such facilities. The decentralized kitchen concept now being tried out for supply of foods to beneficiaries numbering less than 5000 in large areas creates small scale cooking facilities near the schools run by women's Self Help Group, train the cooks on good manufacturing practices and inculcate accountability for supply of raw material inputs. If such a movement takes root, the astronomical investment made on this social transformation project could be considered well spent.

Involvement of ISKCON appears to be evoking some hostility amongst some critics who blame them for economic exploitation and even some court cases are pending in Karnataka where one of the politicians has been arraigned for defamation by ISKCON for making unsubstantiated allegations. On a critical look at the economics of the program it is seen that each meal prepared costs about Rs 4.68 and government budget provides only Rs 2.64, rest absorbed by the organizers raising donations from corporations and individuals all around the world. The vision on the part of ISKCON to reach a target of 5 million children is praise worthy and as long as they are accountable for the donations from the public as well as the government funds received as per country's laws, there should not be any objection to their mission. Probably more NGOs must come forward to create models like this to serve the future needs of the children of this country.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"BUTTON CELL" HAZARDS-NEED FOR MORE PARENTAL VIGILANCE

Toys are here to stay when it comes to "pleasing" one's kids and keep them away from troubles. Also many toys can be educational medium, though not of any deliberate design, to evoke curiosity amongst children. Especially in many urban settings toys in the form of animals and other real life models provide the first glimpse to children at early stages about the diversity of the universe. Of course with the electronic media and visual images available on the television channels, children can get a much better appreciation of real life situations. Still toys provide companionship and a sense of comfort when they are "owned" by the kids. While safe toys posing no risk to the health or life of the children are the imperative objective of the toy industry, there are have been many instances of children coming harms way through unsafe toys. Battery cells, especially the button type, used to power many electrical and electronic toys, pose the greatest danger, if parental caution is not exercised or insufficient overseeing by adults.

"There has been an increase in the use of "button" style lithium cell batteries in recent years, which are used in manyhousehold productions including remote controls, flashlights, watches, hearing aids, cameras, children's toys and books, and musical greeting cards. There has also been a significant increase in the number of battery ingestions, particularly among children. New research published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics has found that between 1985 and 2009, there has been a 6.7-fold increase in the percentage of battery ingestions, including 13 deaths involving button batteries that become lodged in the esophagus. Certain battery types, especially the 20-millimeter lithium cell battery, can also cause serious injury if not promptly removed, such as tissue tears, burning, and internal bleeding, because they continue to generate an external current, even when weakened. Toby Litovitz, MD, from the National Capital Poison Center and department of emergency medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, analyzed data from three sources: The National Poison Data System, the National Battery Ingestion Hotline, and the medical literature. Age was a significant predictor of severity of complications. Children younger than 6 years old were involved in 62.5% of the button cell ingestions and 85% of the major effects occurred in children younger than 4.Litovitz also looked at how children and adults obtained the batteries and found that ingested batteries were removed directly from the household products about 62% of the time. The batteries were loose 29% of the time. More than 37% of the 20-millimeter lithium batteries ingested came from remote controls. Children are not the only ones affected. About 36% of the ingested batteries were from hearing aids. In older adults, the batteries were mistaken for pills'".

If sociologists can find fault with foods from the industry for their potential to be choking hazards, toys present much more risk, especially in the form of button cells and small AAA batteries. Of course the toy industry cannot be blamed entirely because these cells are embedded inside the toy body and cannot be removed easily with out adult help. In spite of such built in safety features parents will be better off by restricting access to electronic toys to the duration only during the periods when they can effectively supervise and rest of the time such toys could be stowed away beyond the reach of children. World is going through turbulent times with increasing dangers lurking around from different quarters and button cells should not add to the existing threat perceptions.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A CHILD'S 'DAY IN"-CURBING SPREAD OF INFECTION

Many working couples with infants, having barely enough time, especially on week days, to prepare for leaving home for the work place, face enormous odds in coping up with such daily pressures and tensions. While some have retired parents to take care of the children when they are away from home on official work, many others depend on creches and day care centers to park their kids for 6--10 hours a day. Compared to children of yester years, to day's kids are more prone to frequent ailments like cold, flu, diarrhea, cough etc probably because of lesser resistance to infections polluted environment that are prevalent in many urban areas of the country. Though they go through the prescribed regime of modern vaccination without any default, there are too many vectors of infection that are not immunizable which can cause temporary discomfort to the children.

Common cold, winter crud, lingering nasal drips, irritating cough are all too common amongst pre-school children which do not need hospitalization. There may be vomiting and fever which can be serious requiring medical attention with least delay. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a relatively harmless vector as far as adults and School Children are concerned but it can cause serious damage to infants, if not promptly attended to. It is not realized that children can carry a viral infection without showing typical symptoms for some time and even after apparent curing they can still be a source of infection. On the other hand, RSV infected children may cough for weeks without necessarily having the virus particles still in their body because the virus had affected the linings of their lungs during its active phase and it takes time to heal the inflammation which is responsible for the drip.

Immunization against Flu, the most common affliction amongst children and old age people, is possible but plain cold has to be endured for as long as 21 days in some cases. Use of many 'Cold Remedies', often available as "Over the Counter" medicines needing no prescription by a physician is positively ruled out for babies under the age of two years because of unpredictable consequence. Viral particles generally gain entry into the blood through the receptive epithelium of the nose and the eyes. There is the usual tendency for the children to rub the areas near the nose and the eyes due to irritation and contact with such children can spread the infection to others. In a recent classical study of hospital environment which can be a place for spreading infection, it was reported that those who stood near an infected baby and those who touched the baby as well as the crib were highly vulnerable to catching the infection while those keeping some distance from the crib were not affected at all. It is against this back ground that hospitals insist on a rigorous practice of thorough washing of hands every time some one goes near an infected baby. Creches and pre-school institutions also should have such facilities so that between handling two children the concerned personnel practice thorough hand washing. Encouraging children to wash their hands as frequently as possible will also cut down the probability of spreading infection to a great extent.

Biggest worry for parents is when they should be keeping their children home during times of infection. If an actively infected baby is sent to such public places there is high probability of passing on the infection to other babies with the least resistant one being affected first. While common cold, nasal drips and cough can be ignored for sending the child to creche, it will be irresponsible if children with fever or vomiting are encouraged to attend such day care centers. They must stay home even if there is inconvenience for the parents. Diarrhea, by itself, is a different proposition and as long as food is not handled with soiled hands there may not be any hazard to others, though keeping such children at home, if possible, will be a better proposition for their comfort.

The oft repeated slogan" wash your hands before eating" needs to be changed to "wash your hands as often as possible". Such training must start at home where young kids are encouraged to go to the wash basin for washing their hands regularly after every activity. Washing with soap or disinfectant can be insisted on before eating the food and after visiting the toilet every time. A child trained like this will be least affected by fellow children attending the day care center even when the latter carry viral infection. In any creche or day care center where all the kids are trained for hand washing regimen, serious infections will be far and few.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHILD- WORTH TRYING!

A disturbing question that keeps haunting many grand parents is why their grand children are different in their attitudes and behavior from their own off springs when they were children. Of course psychologists may have a ready answer which often may sound too scientific to understand. It is well known that parents, the home environment and the food do influence the personality of a child in several ways and one quick answer would be that the grand parents, their house holds and the food they gave to their children were much different from what they are to day. That is begging the question! The old saying 'spare the cane and spoil the child' is still remembered by many old people and according to them the precise reason for all the ills seen to day can be attributed to the dramatic changes taking place in the society at large. How many will take this for an answer? Probably very few.

Modern education pundits and child psychologists will pooh pooh the old style thinking, holding the view that child must be handled with care, not causing any mental stress during the growing phase. A keen observer cannot miss the dramatic differences in the behavior of a toddler in the creche and at home. The working parents who bring the child home in the evening invariably have a horrendous time in keeping pace with the frenetic activities of the child till hitting the bed at the night. The child does not rest even for a minute and the eating behavior is totally erratic with frequent tantrums. Same child is a model in the creche with absolute obedience and meticulous behavior. Probably the environment in the creche may be some what restrictive for this child to indulge in activities it wants to pursue and only at home it has the freedom to vent out its bottled up energy. Could this be the effect of the hectic pace of life in urban centers which a child is forced to follow, leading to a dichotomy in its behavior? Or could it be due to the shrinking sizes of dwelling units in urban areas with very little space available to the child to move around freely? What is going in the little brain of the child is difficult to gauge. What can be the solution? More attention to the child at home? Not sending the child to a creche? Going back to the old system of joint family living? These are difficult questions for which ready answers are yet to emerge!

In the food front, what shapes the attitude of the above child to different foods to which it is exposed? Some clues are available from a Danish study of children's behavior vis-a-vis food during their development. There was subtle difference in food preferences between male and female children. Boys needed 10% more sourness and 20% more sweetness compared to girls. As the taste buds of boys were less sensitive, they preferred super sweet versions of beverages, more extreme flavors, sweet and sourish foods. The inference is that girls' brains process information from the tongue differently than boys' brain do. As children grow the taste perception changes noticeably and the ability to recognize different tastes increases with age, peaking at 13-14 years. Generally love for sour foods increases while that for sweet foods diminishes.

Given this situation parents should be able to approach the issue of deciding on the nature of foods to be made at home with more understanding rather than forcing the child to take what ever is cooked for adults. It may also help to nutritionally tailor make the food incorporating the flavors and tastes preferred by the child, male or female. This is where the real problem lies. Lot of patience, efforts and time are required to understand the child and few young parents seem to have these traits because of their hectic life styles forced upon them by the compulsions of financial security and career development. Probably many companies realize this and are offering flexi timings for their women employs to work from home, some times even paying extra salary for the same and insisting only on delivering results rather than keeping account of the number of hours spent on the work. More such progressive measures by others also, can be expected to alleviate the situation significantly.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/