NUTRITIONAL CRISIS IN INDIAN GIRL CHILD DURING THE LAST DECADE AND ITS EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT BY SIDDHA SYSTEM – A STATUS REVIEW

Abstract

There is an immediate and imminent need to answer the question of ill health and health awareness
issues of girl children and young girls. They form the fulcrum of the inter-generational health status. educating
the girl child is being given due importance in the recent years. But still there is inadequacy in advocation of
highlighting the unmet needs of the micronutrient and macronutrient deficiencies in girl children. Siddha, one
of the AYUSH systems being practiced in southern parts of India emphasizes the importance of girl child, the
essential nutritional dietary checklist to be given during important phases of her life. These important phases are
when there is an additional demand for micro and macronutrients with increased calorie intake to match with the
function of tissue differentiation, reproduction and ageing. The diet recommended in Siddha texts and being part
of Tamilian cuisine, these foods are entirely homemade, nutritionally dense and economically cheap and easily
acceptable to the multi-cultural palatal preferences.