HYDERABAD: How good are millets for children? A study by Hyderabad-based research institution ICRISAT has claimed that as per their study, millet-based mid-day meals in schools can boost the growth of children by more than 50 per cent. This boost in growth was observed over a span of just three months when rice was substituted by millet in traditional food in mid-day meals in schools.
For a three-month period, millet-based mid-day meals were fed to 1,500 adolescent children in two schools in suburbs of Bengaluru in Karnataka. Of these, 136 children were studied as the intervention group and their growth parameters, including height and weight, were compared with 107 other children in two other schools who consumed rice-based mid-day meals.
The study reports that the intervention group which consumed the millet-based meal showed a 54 per cent increase in the height and 50 per cent increase in weight, when compared to the control group that consumed rice-based meals. The items made from millet which garnered the maximum points for taste were finger millet (ragi) idli, little and pearl millet (bajra) bisi belle bath and upma made from pearl and little millet (kutki).
What about taste? According to the study, children enjoyed the taste of food prepared with millets. A media release by ICRISAT on Wednesday on the study mentioned that the students rated the millet-based meals with 4.5 out of 5 points for its taste. “These results and guidelines developed from the study are equally important for any scheme addressing malnutrition or general health diets-whether that of governments, NGOs, private sector or caterers,” said Joanna Kane-Potaka, assistant director-general, ICRISAT.
Dr S Anitha, a nutritionist at ICRISAT and the study’s corresponding author said, “It is not good enough just to say we are going to add millets into the meal. The type of millet, its variety, how it is cooked and the foods it is combined with are some of the key elements that can make a difference in nutrition.”