Govt revises nutritional standards in its food safety schemes for kids

An inter-ministerial committee had recommended several changes in the nutritional standards schemes of meals served at schools and anganwadis, including the inclusion of micronutrients and making it mandatory to serve eggs as part of government food safety programmes. However, the proposal to serve eggs has been put on hold for the time being. The recent amendment in schemes to the standards was made based on the committee’s recommendations, which had suggested increasing the proportion of calories and protein in the meals.

Although the proposal to make the serving of eggs mandatory as part of government food safety programs has been shelved for now, there are no limitations on states and Union Territories to include eggs and other items in the menu of food safety programs such as midday meals (now known as PM Poshan) at schools or the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme at anganwadis that covers pre-school children, as well as pregnant and lactating mothers.

A government official stated that even if states are unwilling to include eggs in their food safety programmes, they will still need to update their menu by including more items such as pulses and green leafy vegetables to meet the revised nutritional standards. Currently, eggs are already a part of the midday meal in 14 states and UTs.

The inter-ministerial committee had recommended “urgent action” in its draft report, highlighting the potential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on exacerbating the “silent crisis” of undernutrition.

The revised NFSA schedule II, which was made official on January 25, establishes nutritional standards for nine different groups of people, ranging from infants aged six months to one year to students in upper primary classes (VI-VIII). Additionally, the new schedule has introduced three new categories specifically for undernourished children between the ages of six months and six years.

Under the revised nutritional standards, the entitlement of children in lower primary classes to midday meals has been increased. Previously, each child was entitled to receive 450 kilocalories (kcal) and 12 grams of protein.

The revised nutritional standards for midday meals now mandate a higher amount of protein, along with the inclusion of fat and carbohydrates in the mix. For instance, the previous norms for lower primary classes provided 450 kilocalories (kcal) and 12 gm protein, but the protein quantity has now been increased to 15-20 gms. Additionally, the amended standards have fixed nutritional requirements for micronutrients such as calcium, zinc, iron, dietary folate, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12. The new standards mandate the inclusion of 170 mg of calcium, 2 mg of zinc, 3.5 mg of iron, 50 micrograms of dietary folate, 100 micrograms of Vitamin A, 0.43 micrograms of Vitamin B6, and 0.66 micrograms of Vitamin B12.