Boko, Aug 11: A pioneering pilot programme aimed at combating child malnutrition by incorporating nutrient-dense small fish powder into children’s diets has shown promising results in Kamrup District in Assam.

Launched during the Poshan Maah celebration in September 2023, the six-month initiative has significantly reduced underweight and severe stunting conditions among children, and improved their Body Mass Index (BMI).

The project, titled ‘Pilot cum Scaling: Inclusion of Nutrient-Dense Small Fish Powder in Diets among Pre-School Children of Anganwadi Centres and LP School Children through a Partnership Approach at Bongaon Block under Chaygaon LAC in Kamrup District of Assam’, released its findings on August 8, highlighting substantial improvements in children’s health.

Spearheaded by the Kamrup District Administration with technical support from WorldFish, a CGIAR research organization, and financial backing from the APART Project of ARIAS Society in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, Assam, the project has garnered positive outcomes.

Kamrup District Commissioner, Keerthi Jalli, formally unveiled the findings at a programme held at her office chamber of the Integrated District Commissioner’s Office in Amingaon on Friday, alongside Dr. Sanjay Sarma, Fishery Coordinator of APART Project, ARIAS Society, Pratul Barman, District Fishery Development Officer, Kamrup.

District Commissioner Jalli expressed satisfaction with the project’s positive impact, noting significant improvements in the nutritional status of the children involved. “The success of this initiative reflects the promise of scaling up such interventions to enhance child nutrition across Assam, and the collaboration between WorldFish, local authorities, and various stakeholders showcases a model that could potentially be scaled to other regions facing similar nutritional challenges,” she added.

“Fish is a staple in Assam, widely consumed and rich in essential nutrients. Recognizing its potential to address nutritional deficiencies, the project focused on integrating small fish powder into the diets of pre-school and primary school children in Bongaon Block, Kamrup District. The initiative targeted 55 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) and 43 Lower Primary (LP) Schools, reaching approximately 3,300 children. The children received meals enriched with fish powder thrice weekly, with each serving containing 7g for AWCs and 8g for LP schools. This is being done for the first-time in India,” Jalli added.

The pilot study’s results highlighted significant improvements in children’s nutritional status where the key findings include a reduction in underweight conditions and a reduction in severe stunting. The inclusion of small fish in meals significantly reduced the project area Anganwadi children underweight 13.79 % to 8.33%, severely underweight conditions among children in the treatment group from 1.82 % to 0.15 % and the proportion of severely stunted children decreased from 14.39 % to 10.76% in the treatment group compared to the control group.

Again, among the LP school children, the average BMI increased from 15.54 to 16.11, the average weight (kg) increased from 23.83 to 25.12 and the average height (cm) increased from 122.83 to 123.95 in the treatment group. These findings underscore the effectiveness of integrating small fish powder into government supplementary nutrition programs, suggesting potential benefits for broader implementation.

It may be stated that to evaluate the programme’s impact on children’s nutritional status, comprehensive baseline and endline surveys were conducted, focusing on key anthropometric measurements such as height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height in both treatment and control groups. Growth monitoring records from AWCs and BMI measurements from LP schools provided valuable data for analyzing the effectiveness of fish supplementation in government supplementary nutrition programmes for improving nutritional outcomes.

According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2021), Assam reports high levels of child malnutrition, with 35.3% of children under five years stunted, 21.7% wasted, and 32.8% underweight.

In Kamrup District, 22.6% of children under five years are stunted, 14.8% are wasted, and 19.7% are underweight, highlighting the critical need for targeted nutritional interventions. In response to this critical issue, the Kamrup District Administration initiated the project during the Poshan Maah celebration in 2023.

Dr. Baishnaba Charan Ratha, Senior Specialist in Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, led comprehensive training sessions to ensure the proper implementation of this nutrition intervention. The sessions were attended by key stakeholders, including school heads, teachers, cooks, Anganwadi workers, and members of the Mothers’ Committees and School Management Committees.

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