Sunday, June 24, 2012

INTERNATIONAL REPORT


Report On The International Conference
Food, Health And Mental Health In Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Policies And Practices

The French Institute of Pondicherry 1-3 March 2012
BALM, Chennai   And   FIP, Pondicherry
                                                             With the support of          
Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust, AUF and CNRS
                                         FIP BALM/The Banyan

FORWARD

The aim of the conference has been to encourage reflections on food, physical and mental health and the interrelationship between them. These subjects were mainly addressed with reference to low income populations in India. The presence of some participants from Morocco, Niger and France enabled to enrich debates, notably on particular aspects such as history of food security or cultural dimensions of food and health. Obviously, such a conference cannot solve the immense issues of access to food and health to which the world has to face, but by the variety of topics, it has aimed to improve the understanding of the problems and to develop more coordinated responses.  

The conference has been possible thanks to the joint efforts of the BALM (The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health), the research and training center of the NGO The Banyan, Chennai, involved in the mental health care of homeless women, and of the FIP (French Institute of Pondicherry), a research institution under the aegis of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which carries out research in indology, social sciences and ecology, and the financial support of Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust, the French Institute of Pondicherry, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). The conference has also welcomed two participants from Niger and Morocco who are involved with the FIP in the UNESCO Chair entitled ‘The safeguarding and enhancement of food culture and heritage’ brought and managed by the University François Rabelais, Tours.


The study presented by Ajeet JaiswalStudy on the intake and expenditure of calories among the manufacturing worker” has been realized in Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh. This North State is very populated and not so well developed with a rate of literacy of 57.37%. In Varanasi district, the percentage of workers is 28.5% of the total population, among them 29.8 % belong to rural area and 26.7% belongs to urban one (Census of India 2001). The other workers are engaged in agriculture, mining and business. The objective of the study has been to assess and to compare the nutritional status between textile workers and non textile workers. 463 persons working at different sectors in twenty-one textile factories and 457 non textile workers have been surveyed regarding their body measurements and dietary intake[1] (data are presented below). Regarding the body measurements, Ajeet Jaiswal’s study reveals that the weight of textile workers is lower than that of non textile worker. Body Mass Index lower than 18.5 is more frequent in textile workers (30.95% versus 25.99%) while overweight and obesity cases are less in this group, respectively (5.01% versus 10.21%) and (0.66% versus 4.25%). These findings are correlated with the difference of consumption between the two worker groups. The textile workers consumption in all the food categories is lower than that of the RDA, that of women being worse than that of men who eat much more micronutrient-rich food such as pulses, fruits, dairy products and vegetables. The data also inform  that the staple food of these workers is finger millet or rice; that the majority of them does not have three meals a day regularly, and the consumption of non vegetarian food is irregular (once to three times per weeks). Ajeet Jaiswal states that the deficiency in nutrient intake of textile workers is due to their insufficient wages and their ignorance on nutritional status of food. In conclusion, he proposes that the incomes of these workers are enhanced, that the educational standard is uplifted, that the education includes awareness on food and nutrition and that poor economic households are more helped in order they benefit from a balanced diet. One expects that this study, which has been published, will be read by policy makers of Uttar Pradesh, a state well known for its poverty and low standards of governance .



[1] Standardized according to: Gopalan, G., Ramasastri B.V. and Balasubramanian, S.C. (2007). Nutritive value of Indian foods. Revised and Updated by B.S. Narasinga Rao, Y.G. Deosthale and K.C. Pant Hyderabad, National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR (1st publication 1971).