Tandon M

Letter. Nutritional rehabilitation of severely malnourished children at domiciliary level through the integrated child development services (ICDS) scheme: a perspective study

In 1975 the Government of India launched the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme aiming to reduce the incidence of malnutrition and to reduce infant and child morbidity and mortality rates in the country. In this scheme a village-level center provides severely malnourished (SMN) children with therapeutic supplementary feed and advises mothers to continue breastfeeding and give adequate quantity of weaning foods. This prospective study assessed the impact of the ICDS package of services on the nutritional status of SMN children in India. A total of 926 children aged 6 months to <6 years attending 25 centers were assessed by utilizing the weight-for-age criterion. Overall results indicate a positive impact of the integrated package of nutrition and health services on the nutritional status of SMN children in field conditions. The findings also establish the value of domiciliary management of SMN children at village level. Hence this approach is recommended in preference to that of hospital management which is less effective more costly and often unacceptable to village people for socioeconomic and cultural reasons.