Dual Nutrition Burden in Women

From time immemorial it has been recognized that women-especially pregnant and lactating women-form one of the most vulnerable segments of the population from nutritional point of view. Numerous studies in India and elsewhere have shown that in chronically undernourished women subsisting on unchanged low dietary intake, pregnancy and lactation have an adverse effect on maternal nutritional status. Maternal under nutrition is associated with low birth weight and all its attendant adverse consequences. Epidemiological studies from India documented the magnitude and adverse consequences of Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) on the mother child dyad and paved way for intervention programmes to address under-nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.