Rashtriya Poshan Maah Celebration-Brainware University

The Department of Allied Health Sciences, Brainware University celebrated the Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2021 on September 25, 2021. The objective of this event was to spread mass awareness about Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and how to prevent it to make a healthy society. To meet this goal, Ms. Sulagna Sarkar, State Nutrition Consultant, State Nutrition Support Cell, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Swasthya Bhawan, Salt Lake, Kolkata, and Ms. Koyel Pal Chowdhury, Research Dietitian, IPGMER, and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata were invited to be the chief guests. The session was conducted online through the Zoom platform with more than 300 participants from across the country.

The Poshan Abhiyaan was launched in March 2018 by the Prime Minister as the Indian government’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers aiming for holistic nutrition. Highlighting the relevance of the session, Ms. Sarkar said, “Today in 2021, India is not just fighting COVID-19 outbreak but is also battling existing undernutrition in the country. Mission Poshan 2.0 aims to implement a comprehensive, unified strategy to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach, and outcome, with a renewed focus on developing practices.”

While Ms. Sarkar emphasized SAM, Ms. Koyel Pal Chowdhury talked about the relation between nutrition and depression. “Nutrition can play a significant role in the inception as well as severity and extent of depression. Many of the easily noticeable food patterns that precede depression are the same as those that occur during depression,” said Ms. Pal Chowdhury.

This was followed by an interactive session whereby the speakers shared their knowledge on the various aspects of nutrition to maintain good health. The event came to a close with a vote of thanks from the organizing committee offered to the guests.