The UNICEF State Office for Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Press Institute of India together hosted in December a webinar titled, What’s On Your Child’s Plate – No Kidding. It was a discussion on nutrition and the eating habits of children, prompted by a recent UNICEF report that says 50 million children in India suffer from wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, and that the figure could increase by nine million by the coming year due to the COVID pandemic’s impact on children’s diets, nutrition services and feeding practices.
In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, parents and families tend to focus more on materialist or economic growth, and, sadly, the importance of healthy nutrition, good eating habits and a disciplined way of life is often overlooked, leading to many challenges. And these were some of the main aspects discussed.
The speakers were Dr Vaishnavi Chandramohan, pediatrician; Dr Kousalya Nathan, lifestyle management consultant; Sharmila Ribeiro, author and healthy food advocate; Simran Oberoi, founder, Ovenderful; Latha Chandramouli, parent; and Vedant Krishna, a student. The conversation was moderated by Sanjay Pinto, advocate and columnist.