While reports have come from time to time of Indian children
falling sick due to poor midday meals in schools an even worse thing is
happening – children falling sick from iron supplements forced on them in
schools. Reports of this appear in newspapers from time to time including
one today in Rajasthan. For example see
One wonders what is the idea or scam behind this horrible
idea. There are much easier, cheaper and healthier ways to provide iron
supplements. There is a need to put an end to this scam immediately even if
some public officials are extracting bribes from the manufacturer.
Two of the simple natural methods of providing iron are
1. Include spinach and other leafy vegetables in school
meals. Spinach finely chopped can be mixed in school dal however spinach needs
to be washed thoroughly to remove dirt and pesticide residues and this may not
be possible in schools given their record. Spinach fortified biscuits made by a
reputed manufacturer is a safer idea. See this for OFR biscuits.
2. The lucky Iron fish method
The lucky Iron fish method is the cheapest way to make up
for iron deficiency.
To quote from Wikipedia,
Lucky iron fish are fish-shaped cast iron ingots used to
provide dietary supplementation of iron to individuals
living in poverty affected by iron-deficiency anaemia. The ingots are
placed in a pot of boiling water to leach elemental iron into the water and
food. They were developed in 2008 by Canadian health workers in Cambodia, and
in 2012 a company, The Lucky Iron Fish Project, was formed to develop the iron
fish on a larger scale, promote them among rural areas, and distribute them to non-governmental
organization partners.
Care must be taken in production of these fish that the iron
does not contain any other trace metals as impurity such as lead that may harm
over the long term. In order to perpetuate this method school children may be
given an iron fish each along with instructions for use at home, either the
children or in a joint meeting of children and parents so that the parents especially pregnant mothers benefit too and the government saves money and children school study time wasted on a futile exercise that is making many sick.
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