Bengaluru non-profit’s toolkit approach to address nutrition challenges in children Premium

Nourishing Schools Foundation, which has implemented its programmes in more than 230 government schools across the country, impacting over 60,000 children, is now getting ready to roll out its toolkit for private schools, with Bengaluru as one of its focus cities

Malnutrition among children in the age group of 0-19 years continues to be a problem in India. As per the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (2016-18), 22% of school-age children (5-9 years) were stunted and 24% of adolescents (10-19 years) were thin for their age. While that’s one side of the coin, the survey also showed that conditions of overweight and obesity are on the rise.

Bengaluru-based nonprofit organization Nourishing Schools Foundation (NSF) aims to address this problem by bridging awareness gaps in nutrition among school children and nudging them to become problem-solvers.

The organisation which has been taking a ‘toolkit-based approach’ has so far implemented its programmes in more than 230 government schools across the country, impacting over 60,000 children, says Archana Sinha, co-founder and CEO at NSF. The nonprofit is now getting ready to roll out its toolkit for private schools, with Bengaluru as one of its focus cities.

In an interview with The Hindu, Sinha talks about the new programme, where Karnataka stands in terms of battling nutritional challenges and what to keep in mind while designing such programmes in a country where food is a complex topic.