Faridabad/ Alive News: To create awareness regarding nutrition and sensitise one and all about the need for balanced food, Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAS), Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, Manav Rachna International University (MRIU) is celebrating National Nutrition Week from September 1st-7th, 2016. This year, the theme for National Nutrition Week 2016 is based on ‘Life Cycle Approach for Better Nutrition’. The weeklong celebrations has a plethora of events lined up including Nutrition Quiz, Expert Talk, Seminar, Nutrition Counselling and Talk shows on Radio Manav Rachna. Today marked the inauguration of the event at the MRIU campus in which Dr N.C. Wadhwa, Vice Chancellor, MRIU, was the Chief Guest and Dr. Ashok Kumar Nagar, Retd. Deputy Commissioner, Storage & Research, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, was the Guest of Honour. Also present on the occasion were Dr G.L. Khanna, Dean, FAS, MRIU and a host of other senior dignitaries and guests including Faculty and students.
Appraising the gathering on the inaugural day about the nutritional status of all age groups, Dr Ashok Kumar Nagar, Retd. Deputy Commissioner, Storage & Research, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, said, “Across the years, Government bodies have collected nutrition data to review the nutrition status of the country. Despite government efforts, a large majority of children below the age group of 5, pregnant women and nursing mothers are suffering from malnutrition. If statistics are to be believed, one third of the malnourished children in the world live in India. Since a large section of the Indian population live below the poverty line, malnutrition is inevitable and cases of starvation still run rampant. However, agricultural production and food availability have gone up remarkably in the last few years.” Dr Ashok Kumar Nagar also made a presentation on the Salient Features of National Food Security Act-2013, highlighting its aims and objectives.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr N.C. Wadhwa, Vice Chancellor, MRIU, said, “It is imperative to sensitize one and all about the need for taking balanced and nutritive food. It is unfortunate that 48 per cent of our children are suffering from malnutrition and 70 per cent of the children are anemic. Our national goals and objectives of skilling India and emerging as a developed nation can only be fulfilled if we are committed to being bodily fit and mentally alert. As it has been rightly said, ‘Let food be the medicine of life’. With the right kind of food choices, we need not rely on medicines for health and wellness.”
There was much enthusiasm among school students surrounding the Dr.O.P.Bhalla Memorial 3rd Manav Rachna Nutrition Update Quiz (MRNUQ) in which 17 teams participated including Vidya Mandir Public School, MRIS Sector 14, Holy Child Public School, Rawal International School, DAV Sector 49, DAV 14, Emerald Convent School, St. Peters School, MRIS Charmwood and MVN Aravali Hills. This one-of-a-kind Quiz Competition comprised MCQ, Jumble Words, ‘Who am I’, Logomania and Tagline and Rapid Fire Questions, all revolving round nutrition and quality food. MRIS Charmwood won the first prize followed closely by MVN Aravali Hills and DAV Sector 49 as they bagged the Second and Third position respectively.
