Dr. H. N. Mishra, professor at IIT-Kgp's agricultural and food engineering department, said: "In rural India, 55 percent of children are severely malnourished, while it is 45 percent in the urban population. This problem is not only India but an alarming scene in many developing and developed countries.
“According to a joint U.N. report, 15 percent of these afflicted children require med attention. The remaining 85 percent can be treated with diet therapy. It was in this context that we developed this product that will provide nutrition to these children to fight the disease."
"This is ready to eat and can be sold in pouches as food paste. We have prepared five food formulations based on peanut, potato and Bengal gram (chana) to suit different tastes and nutrient needs of malnourished children. It is also easily digestible," said IIT professor Dr. H. N. Mishra, who led the research.
The paste needs to be put in the child's mouth and needs no dilution. There's no need to remove the product from the flexi pouch either. There have been five formulations on three foodstuffs - peanuts, potato and Bengal gram.
It has all the vitamins, minerals, nutrients and protein which a malnourished child needs, Prof. Mishra said.
He said: "Such children need special attention as they lack calories and energy. Their digestion capacity is affected and their whole system has grown weak. Therefore, they need such therapeutic food and diet-care approach."
It took more than a year for the researchers to come up with the product. Since the product targeted the underprivileged section of society, the cost of production was low, the professor said.
Danie Shajie, an IIT-Kgp senior research fellow who was part of the team along with Rakesh Kumar Raigar, research associate, said the product will also aide AIDS patients whose immunity has been compromised.
By Ruchi Singh
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com