Impact of soya enriched food supplement on the nutritional status of women beneficiaries of ICDS

Abstract

The study comprises evaluation of existing supplementary nutrition component of IeDS and ascertaining the impact of newly developed food supplement on the nutritional status of women beneficiaries of IeDS. Assessment of programme efficiency of the existing supplementary nutrition component of IeDS revealed lack of infra structure facilities and basic facilities in many centres. Irregularity In feeding was mainly due to delay in effecting the supply and due to administrative constraints. An attempt was made to standardise food supplement suitable for lactating women beneficiaries. With this objective, 97 food formulations were computed and from this 15 combinations were selected. From among these 5 combinations with high nutritive value, amino acid score, and chemical'score, were selected. Nutrient density, physiological tolerance, shelf life qualities, organoleptic qualities and cost were the major parameters administered to select the best combination. Different r ec ip e s were standardised using the chosen food supplement as the base mix. Nine point hedonic scale was administered to select the suitable recipe, with the help of 50 experts at the institutional level.

2 The acceptability of the same was tested at the field level through preference studies among field level functionaries (50) and women beneficiaries (100). Most acceptable recipe was selected for the feedipg programme. A feeding experiment of 6 months duration was conducted with selected recipe in 10 centres with 60 lactating women beneficiaries where the evaluated food supplement was to replace the existing ICDS supplement. In this feeding programme 60 beneficiaries of existing ICDS programme in other centres formed CG. Socio economic and demographic profile of the beneficiaries of the two groups were elicited to ensure that there was no variation between the two groups in this respect. Many beneficiaries were belonging to nuclear type BPL families with 3 to 4 members and employed In unorganised sector. The educational level and health profile with reference to anthrompometric measurement of the beneficiaries were also found uniform. Assessment of food habits and nutrient intake revealed uniformity in the inclusion of different foods and nutrient availability from the diet. The feeding programme was conducted for six months. The impact of the food supplement on the beneficiaries of EG revealed an improvement in the anthrompometric measurements, clinical deficiency manifestations and blood profile with reference to haemoglobin, serum protein, serum albumin, serum iron and TIBC but this improvement was not observed among the CG beneficiaries.