Effectiveness of Millet-Pulse-Groundnut Based Formulations in Improving the Growth of Pre-School Tribal Children in Telangana State, India.

A community-level nutritional intervention was implemented among tribal children (3 to 6 years of age) in Telangana, India. The one-year intervention involved six nutrient-rich formulations of millet-pulse-groundnut-based products suited to local taste preferences. Anthropometric measurements of height, weight, and mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) along with haemoglobin (Hb) levels were monitored at baseline and endline. The treatment group showed considerable gains in height (3.2 cm), weight (1.68 kg), and MUAC (0.33 cm) over the control group. The paired t-test indicated significant differences (p < 0.01) between the pre- and post-intervention anthropometric measurements. Positive shifts were observed in terms of wasting (WHZ; -1.2 ± 1.3 to -0.9 ± 1), stunting (HAZ; -1.8 ± 1.6 to -0.3 ± 1.3), and underweight (WAZ; -1.9 ± 1.2 to -0.7 ± 1) in the treatment group. The Hb levels in the treatment group also improved significantly from 9.70 ± 0.14 g/dL (moderately anaemic) to 11.08 ± 0.13 g/dL (non-anaemic). Post-intervention focus group discussions (FGDs) involving mothers and teachers confirmed these positive impacts. Thus, a nutritional intervention formulated using climate-resilient millets, pulses, and groundnuts promotes dietary diversity and improves the nutrition and health statuses of children.

COVID-19 Impact on Household Food Security in Urban and Peri-Urban Areas of Hyderabad, India.

This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security and on coping-strategies in urban and peri-urban areas of the Hyderabad, India. Household survey data were collected before (October 2018) and during (January 2021) the onset of the pandemic. Results from logistic regression with the standarized Food Insecurity Expecience Scale (FIES) as dependent variable reveal that close to 40% of the households surveyed experienced a deterioration in food security status during the pandemic. In particular, we find that food security is closely related to the sector of employment in which the primary income- earning member of a household is engaged. To mitigate the impact of the pandemic on their food security, our sampled households adopted a variety of consumption-smoothing strategies including availing credit from both formal and informal sources, and liquidating their savings. Compared to households with severe or moderate level of food insecurity, households facing a mild level of food insecurity relied on stored food as a strategy to smoothen consumption in response to the income shock imparted by the pandemic. In addition, the results indicate that urban households, who adopted similar coping strategies as those adopted by peri-urban households, tended to be more food-insecure. Finally, the duration of unemployment experienced during the pandemic significantly influenced the status of household food security. These findings can inform the formulation of immediate and medium-term policy responses, including social protection policies conductive to mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and ameliorating the governance of urban food security during unexpected events and shocks.

Can Feeding a Millet-Based Diet Improve the Growth of Children?-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Undernutrition, such as stunting and underweight, is a major public health concern, which requires multi-sectoral attention. Diet plays a key role in growth and should optimally supply all required nutrients to support the growth. While millets (defined broadly to include sorghum) are traditional foods, and climate smart nutritious crops, which are grown across Africa and Asia, they have not been mainstreamed like rice, wheat, and maize. Diversifying staples with millets can potentially provide more macro and micro nutrients, compared to the mainstream crops. However, there is little known scientific evidence to prove millets' efficacy on growth. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to collate evidence of the benefits of millets in improving the growth of children. Eight eligible randomized feeding trials were included in the meta-analysis. Results from the randomized effect model showed a significant effect (p < 0.05) of millet-based diets on mean height (+28.2%) (n = 8), weight (n = 9) (+26%), mid upper arm circumference (n = 5) (+39%) and chest circumference (n = 5) (+37%) in comparison to regular rice-based diets over for the period of 3 months to 4.5 years, which was based on largely substituting rice with millets. When an enhanced and diverse diet was served, replacing rice with millet had only minimal growth improvement on chest circumference (p < 0.05). The quality assessment using GRADE shows that the evidence used for this systematic review and meta-analysis had moderate quality, based on eight scoring criteria. These results demonstrate the value of adding millet as the staple for undernourished communities. Further understanding of the efficacy of millets on growth in a wider range of diets is important to develop appropriate dietary programs and improve the nutritional status of various age groups across Africa and Asia.

Acceptance and Impact of Millet-Based Mid-Day Meal on the Nutritional Status of Adolescent School Going Children in a Peri Urban Region of Karnataka State in India.

The study assessed the potential for use of millets in mid-day school meal programs for better nutritional outcomes of children in a peri-urban region of Karnataka, India, where children conventionally consumed a fortified rice-based mid-day meal. For a three-month period, millet-based mid-day meals were fed to 1500 adolescent children at two schools, of which 136 were studied as the intervention group and were compared with 107 other children in two other schools that did not receive the intervention. The intervention design was equivalent to the parallel group, two-arm, superiority trial with a 1:1 allocation ratio. The end line allocation ratio was 1.27:1 due to attrition. It was found that there was statistically significant improvement in stunting (p = 0.000) and the body mass index (p = 0.003) in the intervention group and not in the control group (p = 0.351 and p = 0.511, respectively). The sensory evaluation revealed that all the millet-based menu items had high acceptability, with the highest scores for the following three items: finger millet idli, a steam cooked fermented savory cake; little and pearl millet bisi belle bath, a millet-lentil hot meal; and upma, a pearl and little millet-vegetable meal. These results suggest significant potential for millets to replace or supplement rice in school feeding programs for improved nutritional outcomes of children.