Paneer kathi rolls, uttapam, sprouted dal paratha - UNICEF suggests recipes for healthy children
New Delhi: From uttapam to sprouted dal parantha - a book by UNICEF tells how to tackle problems of underweight, obesity and anaemia among children by consuming nutritious food that costs less than Rs 20.
The book has been based on the findings of the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016-18 which found that 35 per cent of children under five are stunted, 17 per cent are wasted and 33 per cent are underweight.
It also found that anaemia affects 40 per cent of adolescent girls and 18 per cent of adolescent boys. The report also found that overweight and obesity increasingly begins in childhood with a growing threat of non-communicable diseases like diabetes (10 per cent) in school-aged children and adolescents.
The 28-page book lists out recipes of freshly prepared foods, also giving the cost of preparation of each of them.
For tackling underweight - the books lists recipes like potato stuffed paratha, paneer kathi roll and sago cutlets while for tackling obesity - there are suggestions of sprouted dal parantha, poha and vegetable upma.
Apart from calorie count, the book gives detailed break up of protein, carbohydrate, fat, total fibre, iron, vitamin C and calcium content of the recipe
UNICEF chief Henrietta H Fore said the booklet aims to tell people what is nutritious and in what amount. Fore said there are two stages in a person's life when nutrition is extremely important.
"The first is in the first 1000 days of a child and for that we need to reach young mothers and second is when you are in adolescence and for that we need to go into schools," Fore told PTI.
"The first one would require healthcare workers at hospitals. It is at that time you can teach a young mother about nutrition and the second one is at adolescence when it can be communicated through teachers, knowledge of nutritious food needs to be brought into schools and made part of the curriculum," the UNICEF executive director said.
She said these types of brochures aims to remind what one should have in a packed lunch for a child.
"If every parent also has that knowledge then we will all be better in terms of what we know about nutrition and how we actually feed ourselves," she said.
She further said the book needs to be brought into schools and made part of the curriculum.
"So that there is good nutrition and I think national nutrition plans will incorporate this but we at UNICEF will be by their side and working with them on a good communication plan," she said.
She hoped the book is translated into regional language to improve its reach.
The supplement book that comes along with the recipe book also talks about causes and consequences of underweight, obesity and anaemia on the health of children.
It also talks about eating disorders like anorexia - voluntary self-starvation resulting in emaciation - and bulimia -recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by some kind of compensatory behaviour to prevent weight gain.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
