Impact of a Nutrition Education Programme Conducted on the Basis of Findings of a Diet and Food Consumption Survey in a Small Village Community in South India

Undernutrition and malnutrition are among the pressing problems which impede our nation's progress. The causes of malnutrition and undernutrition have been traced to poverty, ignorance, traditional beliefs and customs, faulty feeding practices, poor hygiene and insanitary conditions (Devadas, Gopalan, FAQ, Ramdas). Any effort towards increasing food production and establishing better health practices should therefore be preceded by educating the people to realise the need for improving their dietary habits, and their poor health and living conditions.