Impact

Improvement of the micronutrient status of communities

Problem: The National family health survey 4 done in 2015-2016 shows that more than 50% of women and children are anaemic. Solution: The multiple micronutrient fortified salt has been clinically proven to improve the hemoglobin levels, increase serum vitamin A, urinary iodine, serum vitamin B12 , serum folic acid and serum zinc. In children, the increase of micronutrients in the serum has also resulted in increase in their memory and cognition scores in the memory tests administered to them. For details click the tab Scientifically Proven – Improves the levels of micronutrients in the blood

Combating anaemia and increase of memory in children

Problem: Anemia causes poor attentiveness, poor memory and poor academic performance in school age children. Anaemic infants are often irritable, restless and show behavioral abnormalities like lack of attention, fatigue and insecurity. Poor attention span, memory and concentration as well as concept acquisition leading to poor school performance have been attributed to anemia during this phase of critical learning. Solution: Restoration of hemoglobin levels to normalcy leads to significant improvements in overall IQ as well as in tests involving specific abilities of attention, memory and concentration. Clinical trials have shown that the multiple micronutrient fortified salt could therefore immensely benefit anaemic children, improve their iron status, increase their memory and help them improve their academic scores and retain many children who would otherwise drop out of schools because of poor academic performance. Combating micronutrient malnourishment in children will lead to more alert and intelligent children who will lead India to a brighter tomorrow.Click Scientifically Proven-Improves Memory to see more details.

Increase in productivity in people

Problem: Anaemia also causes fatigue, which is a major reason for absenteeism in workers. Solution: The double fortified salt enriched with iron and iodine when given to tea pickers, improved their hemoglobin status which in-turn increased the productivity of the tea pickers. They were able to pick a larger quantity of tea leaves and their absenteeism also decreased. Click Scientifically Proven – Improves productivity or work performance” to see more details. The multiple micronutrient fortified salt would therefore improve the economy of the country substantially.

Improve nutritive status of pregnant women and Reduce prevalence of Low birth weight babies

Problem: The prevalence of low birth weight in children born nationally is 30%. Birth weight is closely associated with health and survival of infants. Low birth weight(LBW) children have deficiencies in cognition and lower developmental test scores than children with normal birth weight. LBW children are at higher risk to develop cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes when they grow up to be adults-Barker Hypothesis. Neglecting maternal nutrition leads to intrauterine growth retardation of the foetus one of the major causes of LBW babies. Poor calorie intake by the pregnant woman, low micronutrient content (especially iron) in her diet and continued physical work load even in the last trimester of her pregnancy contribute to LBW in children born. Solution: Since the multiple micronutrient fortified salt improves the iron status and the status of several micronutrients, it would immensely benefit pregnant women and maybe reduce the prevalence of Low birth weight infants. Neural tube defect in new born children is another major scourge caused primarily due to folate deficiency in the initial stages of pregnancy. The folic acid in the multiple micronutrient fortified salt could drastically reduce the prevalence of neural tube defects in children.

Reduce sickness and increase growth rate in children

Problem: NFHS 4 done in 2015-16 shows that in Tamilnadu, in children who are under 5 years of age, the prevalence of stunting is 27.1%, wasting is 19.7%. Severe wasting is seen in 7.9% of these children and 23.8% of these children are underweight. Solution: Vitamin A and Zinc are known to boost immunity. Zinc is known to decrease the instances of diarrhoea in children. Both vitamin A and zinc in the multiple micronutrient fortified salt will help in reducing sickness in children. This will improve the rate of growth in children as sickness reduces the rate of growth in children.The use of the multiple micronutrient fortified salt might change this scenario. Clinical studies have shown improvements in growth rates in children when the multiple micronutrient fortified salt was used.Click Scientifically Proven-Improves Growth to see more details.