Health Diet and nutritional counseling for new India
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme is one of the world’s largest programmes for early childhood care and development. Now, a new study suggests that nutrition and health counselling delivered under the programme’s auspices is one of the best possible investments that can be made by any government. This timely, non-partisan report is by … Read more
Key Takeaways
- Nutrition and health counselling is identified as one of the best possible investments, delivering phenomenal benefits for every rupee spent.
- As a behavioural change intervention, nutrition and health counselling is relatively low cost for every person reached.
- Rather than providing food, counselling informs mothers, making it more likely that children receive more and better food for lifelong benefits.
- Improving the nutrition and health outcomes of children through maternal counselling makes it a highly cost-effective intervention.
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme is one of the world’s largest programmes for early childhood care and development. Now, a new study suggests that nutrition and health counselling delivered under the programme’s auspices is one of the best possible investments that can be made by any government.
This timely, non-partisan report is by India Consensus, a partnership between Tata Trusts and Copenhagen Consensus, which has undertaken a first-of-its-kind analysis of 100 government programmes. These were identified by NITI Aayog for their role in supporting India’s efforts to achieve the Global Goals.
The Global Goals have a dizzying array of 169 targets, such a long list that no country on Earth can achieve all of them. That’s why the unique India Consensus economic analysis approach is vital: it adds new knowledge about costs and benefits. This way, it can be clearer which programmes achieve the most good for every rupee spent. Researchers have identified twelve programme’s that have phenomenal benefits for every rupee spent. Among the top programme’s is nutrition and health counselling.
As a behavioural change intervention, nutrition and health counselling is relatively low cost for every person that is reached. It’s important to note that this programme does not provide food, but instead provides information to the mother, making it more likely that the child will receive more and better food. And that, in turn, leads to lifelong benefits. Many studies have now demonstrated that these benefits can be large. Improving the nutrition and health outcomes of the children of mothers reached makes this a highly cost-effective intervention.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is nutrition and health counselling considered a high-value healthcare investment?+
Nutrition and health counselling is recognized as one of the best possible investments because it delivers phenomenal benefits for every rupee spent. As a behavioural change intervention, it operates at a relatively low cost for every person reached, making it a highly cost-effective intervention that improves the long-term health outcomes of children.
How does nutrition counselling work without directly supplying food?+
Nutrition and health counselling does not provide physical food to recipients. Instead, it functions as an informative intervention delivered to mothers. By providing targeted information directly to the mother, the programme makes it much more likely that the child receives more and better food, which ultimately produces large, lifelong health benefits for them.
What role does economic analysis play in evaluating health programmes?+
An economic analysis approach adds critical knowledge regarding costs and benefits. Because global goals contain a dizzying list of one hundred and sixty-nine targets that no country can fully achieve, economic evaluation helps clarify which specific health programmes achieve the most overall good for every single rupee spent by decision-makers.
Which organization evaluated the cost-effectiveness of nutrition and health counselling?+
The evaluation was conducted by India Consensus, which is a partnership between Tata Trusts and Copenhagen Consensus. They undertook a first-of-its-kind economic analysis of one hundred government programmes identified by NITI Aayog for their supportive role in helping India achieve its targeted Global Goals across the country.
How does the Integrated Child Development Services scheme fit into early childhood care?+
The Integrated Child Development Services, or ICDS, scheme is identified as one of the world’s largest programmes dedicated to early childhood care and development. A new study highlighted that nutrition and health counselling delivered under the auspices of this programme represents one of the best possible governmental health investments available.
Written by
I&D Team
Healthcare Consulting Team
The I&D Hospital Solution team helps hospitals across India with empanelment, NABH accreditation, TPA tie-ups, hospital setup and growth consulting.