Healthy Food for Children is Crucial for Development

1. Healthy Food for Children is Crucial for Development The Akshaya Patra Foundation Page 1

2. All the major developments of the body and brain take place at childhood. Therefore, lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and whole grains are essential in the food for childrento ensure their healthy development. However, the reality is that not all the children in India have access to proper nutrition, especially in their formative years, in fact millions still don’t. The silver lining is that the situation has become far better than what it was used to be, largely thanks to the efforts of various NGOs for children and people who donate to charity. Healthy food for children is important for several reasons: The Akshaya Patra Foundation Page 2

3. Early childhood - from birth to eight years is one of the most critical periods in children’s growth. It is during this period children grow fast and acquire all their basic skills including language, socio-emotional development (attachment, sense of right and wrong); and fine (ability to hold pencils) and gross (balance, skip) motor skills. Vital nutrients in fruits and vegetables like vitamin C, vitamin A, fibre, folate, potassium, magnesium and phytochemicals help keep the body and mind healthy. This is why doctors and health experts specify on including more fruits and vegetables in food for children food for children. Countless studies in the past have also highlighted importance of healthy eating during childhood. A balanced diet has been shown to increase brain function, improve behaviour and concentration of students and improve children’s learning capacity and academic performance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), healthy nutrition also protects children against obesity and chronic diseases like cancer, eating disorders and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, following a healthy diet during the early stages of growth also helps one remain healthy in adulthood and at old age. The Akshaya Patra Foundation Page 3

4. On the other hand, chronic malnutrition has been proved to leave irreversible damage on children, both in their physical and mental development. UNICEF states that about 7.6 million children around the world die before age five. Around 200 million children manage to survive; but fail to reach full human potential due to various reasons like poor nutrition, inadequate care and lack of opportunities. According to the experts, early intervention by giving opportunities to overcome these issues can yield promising results and help improve survival, growth, health and other areas of early development. In India, effort to provide opportunities to underserved children was initiated through many NGO for children like The Akshaya Patra Foundation. With the help of individuals who donate to charity,Akshaya Patra has been providing nutritious food for children since 2000. The Akshaya Patra Foundation Page 4

5. Giving children the opportunity to attend school regularly, the organisation currently delivers freshly cooked nutritious meals to over 1.4 million children every day. The NGO for children aims at providing more food for children by expanding its reach to 5 million students by 2020. To help make this happen, join Akshaya Patra and donate to charity. Your support will ensure more children get wholesome meals every day in government and government aided schools, and get the opportunity to grow physically and mentally strong. Follows us @ The Akshaya Patra Foundation Page 5