Chandigarh.30 March 2021:
The Poshan Pakhwada 2021 commenced in the city of Chandigarh on March 16, 2021, with an enthusiasm that captivated the public and became a mass movement. The activities organized in the city, adhering to the Department of Social Welfare, Women & Child Development, Chandigarh Administration, are being widely commended by the public and the national authorities. With the Pakhwada’s end around the corner, the people have been participating in the activities to attain awareness regarding nutrition.
A ‘My Kitchen My Dispensary’ workshop was organized at Manimajra, wherein the beneficiaries were taught about the importance of healthy foods and homemade kadhas for building immunity and eliminating malnourishment. They were also taught recipes for low-cost nutritious meals and a variety of kadhas, which can be made from medicinal plants and herbs.
A mehndi competition was organized in the city at Khudda Lahora, appealing to the artistic faculties of the public. The Department is utilizing such talent and artistic skills of participants to convey the message of the importance of nutrition. The people have been involved in these activities to emphasise Poshan and inculcate the habits of eating nutritious meals. Another workshop was organized at Ramdarbar, with a demonstration of low-cost nutritious recipes. All meals should have required amounts of nutrition needed by the body and the workshop showed easy methods to prepare such meals, in economical friendly budget.
The Department delivered lectures on the importance of health to pregnant women in their first and second trimester, on Poshtik Ahaar, diet diversity, personal hygiene, complementary feeding, and overall nutrition. These lectures were conducted all around the city, with beneficiaries from all strata of the society. The Anganwadi workers have stepped up and taken the responsibility to spread information and eliminate malnourishment and malnutrition from every home.
A number of home visits were conducted by the Anganwadi Workers to make the people aware about Poshtik Ahaar, oral hygiene, exclusive breastfeeding and SAM/MAM children’s care. Various awareness drives were also carried out by the Anganwadi Workers regarding Institutional Deliveries, awareness of ante-natal check-ups, distribution of ORS samples, awareness on the importance of kitchen gardening, awareness about the COVID-19 vaccine, social distancing and precautions to be taken during the pandemic, awareness about the use of facemask, and proper etiquette of hand washing.
