Affluent Class children can be malnourished

By Sanjeev Shekhar

Recurrent complaints of having less food or no food by the well to do children have kept the research analysts and parents on toes. It’s a matter of concern and distress for young and working parents, who are more busy with their working lifestyle than anything this world.

A case in point-Arnav (name changed) is a 14-year old boy studying in Class Eight. He belongs to an affluent family of this city. He is from a well to do family dwelling in an urban area. He has a variety of options when it comes to food. Of late, Arnav has been feeling lethargic and weak. He is not being able to perform well in school. Initially the doctors could not infer the reason for his plight. Later they found that he suffered from anemia due to micronutrient deficiency.

It might sound surprising but it’s true. Even the city children from affluent class can be malnourished.

The case of Arnav is not in isolation, as doctors claim that the recent trend suggests that a major chunk of affluent class of children are malnourished. Clinically this is evident in famished children residing in poor and rural areas, who are deprived lot in terms of food. But in urban setting there is a “hidden hunger”.

“We may think that children are eating healthy but they may not be consuming the required amount of vitamins and minerals on a daily basis, which may cause deficiency of micronutrients (nutrients required for life in small quantities),” said a dietician working in the private hospital of the city at Bariatu.

Interestingly a section of parents believes that if the children are eating any form of food, they are having their full and healthy. According to the report of the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau of India, over 50 percent of apparently healthy looking children have sub clinical and biochemical deficiencies of micronutrients (like Vitamin A, B2, B12, Vitamin C, iron, trace minerals like iodine, zinc, etc).

Recently a report published stated that various studies like one conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition in schoolchildren aged 6 to 16 years have demonstrated sub-clinical micronutrient deficiencies (inadequacy of about 66% for vitamins B2 and B6, 60% for vitamin C and 33 – 55% for vitamin A and iron) even among apparently healthy school age. This figure might vary from state to state and Jharkhand is no exception to this.

According to the child specialist, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, working in RIMS, “One of the reasons may be that the children eat a limited portion or variety of food items, also referred to as Picky eating. In addition to this factors like frequent childhood infections may further restrict optimal food intake for meeting nutrient requirement. Inappropriate eating practices, cooking patterns and lifestyle further compound this nutritional insult.” The fat and cholesterol content of the food we consume is much higher than that of essential micronutrients. This can be attributed to the lack of a balanced diet.
Hidden hunger’ or micronutrient deficiency, as it has aptly been called is a problem that looms large and will almost certainly overwhelm us if it remains unaddressed, said Dr. N. Kinjalk. Bringing about simple changes of diversification and fortification in the dietary pattern and lifestyle modification can help radically improve the current scenario. “Effective implementation of these strategies is both the challenge and the need of the hour,” the doctor said.


Micronutrient deficiency is not just threat to children but it is spread across all age groups. In the contemporary times, every person faces onslaught of junk food, unprecedented levels of stress, lack of time and lifestyle induced diseases. Eating healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle with moderate exercise, are more critical than ever before.
Doctors believe that the parents need to be made more aware about the improved dietary intake or inclusion of micronutrient may help in meeting nutritional (micronutrient) requirements.

Sanjeev Shekhar

PR/Media Consultant

Drama Festival of Ranchi University- a tribute to Munsi Premchand

By Sanjeev Shekhar
To mark the golden jubilee celebration-2010 of the Ranchi University, the four-day drama festival based on the stories of legendary Hindi writer Munshi Premchand kick started on Tuesday at Maulana Azad Senate Hall on the University campus.
The drama festival rechristened as ‘Prem Utsav-2010’ evoked positive response from the students and teachers of the university alike. On the occasion of the 130th birth anniversary of Dhanpat Rai Srivastava – better known as Munshi Premchand–Mujeeb Khan is championing the foremost Urdu-Hindi writer's stories through a theatre festival. His theatre group Ideal Drama and Entertainment Academy (IDEA) would stage as many as 15 plays during the four-day festival.
Inaugurating the Utsav, the secretary of the HRD Mridula Sinha pointed out that the classic stories of Munshi Premchand are still relevant in the Indian context. “The presentation of the stories in the form of drama would help in awakening of youth and society. Such shows or act should be promoted in the interest of all,” she said.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University, A.A.Khan deliberated on the life and writings of Munsi Premchand. He said plays based on stories of Premchand would bring about change in values in the contemporary life of youth. “The stories of the great writer successfully outlined and depict the Indian values that will have an impact on the thought pattern of the society as well,” Khan said.
The foremost Urdu-Hindi writer, Mujeeb Khan said "we have meticulously selected these 15 stories of Premchand for the festival from the total collection of 283 stories keeping in mind of the scenario in Jharkhand. All the plays will minutely depict crisis from which Jharkhand is passing through and also the ray of hope that we have in our life," said Khan. He owns the group IDEA, based in Mumbai.
On the first day of the festival five plays were staged by the artists, which included prominently Qatil, Prem ka Uday and Satgati.
Qatil is a serious play that outlined the pain of a mother who loses her son during the British rule. The mother loses her only son when he struggles to fight the British. The play brings about the human pain for a lost relationship.
In Satgati, the necessary evil of the society based on caste and class divide is nicely depicted. It brings about the fact to the fore the obnoxious feeling of the upper caste towards the low caste person, who serves and is loyal to his master till the end. The person even sacrifices his life to remain obedient to his master.

Children's Day celebrated with pomp and show at Rashmirathi Society

By Sanjeev Shekhar
Children Day celebration to mark the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru or “Chacha Nehru” as they fondly call the first Prime Minister of the country was unique at the Rashmi Rathi Society (RRS) on Kanke road in every manner on Sunday morning.

The tree plantation carried out by children witnessed the first ever innovation of naming the plants after the child. The plants were known as Om, Sumantu, Paakhi, Yuvraj, Saanvi, Kavya, Shayonee, Raj etc, which may sound ridiculous at the first place but it’s true to the core. The reason being these plants have been given the first name of the child putting up in the campus, and from now onwards they will no more be an ordinary plant but will hold special position in the minds and heart of the children and parents here.

The society devised the concept to inculcate the feeling among the children to develop love for plants and environment and thus decided to name the plant after their first name following plantation campaign.

“The idea is to generate awareness among the children regarding the protection of plants by them. The children have planted Arika Palm that will make the campus green and at the same time, they will develop the sense of belongingness for their plant as it bears their name,” said the President of the Rashmi Rathi Society R R Mishra.

The President of the RRS conceived the idea of christening the plant after children name so that they develop respect for greenery from within. Around 55 children participated in the programme for tree plantation from 1-year to 15 year studying in premiere schools of the city.

The society had all the ingredients to entertain them. Snacks and the cartoon characters roaming inside the campus regaled the children and the residents simultaneously. The cartoon Charlie Chaplin and Donald Duck remained the cynosure of the entire show. Children stood beside the cartoon characters to get their photograph clicked.


Tree plantations followed by sit and draw competition for children above five years. They used pastel, camel and water colours to give shape to their imagination. Beautiful scenery to drawing of contemporary living in the apartments were the varied subjects the children covered on their own.

“We did not give them any subject, as it would have confined their imagination. We allowed them to paint whatever they wanted. A team of jury would select three best paintings from each category and would be framed to place the paintings at strategic locations of the Society wall,” Mishra stated.

Sponsored by telecom company Vodafone, the children were given gifts and prizes who won the competition. “Our intention is to connect children with the mission of generating awareness towards protection of plant and help in making the campus green,” said the official of the organizing committee of Vodafone.
The company official were overwhelmed with the response for the programme and said that this unique style of celebration of the Children Day would be locked in everybody’s memory forever. “We look forward for organizing many such events in the apartments of Ranchi, as it connects us directly with the customers as well as help in brand building of the company,” the Vodafone official said.

Prizes were distributed by the past president of the RRS, Mr. V.N.Jha and senior members of the society like Mr. V.D.Singh and Mr. Bartiar.

Sanjeev Shekhar

Media Consultant and Journalist