Please wait...

Publish Book and Book Chapter

Cover All Subjects


Kitchen Garden for Household Food and Nutrition Security


Dr. Shazia Husain
Pages: 43-58
ISBN: 978-93-5834-630-5


Current Trends in Food and Nutrition (Volume -2)

Current Trends in Food and Nutrition
(Volume - 2)

Abstract

India’s food and nutrition security remains to be a key concern. Despite having the world's second largest food production, India has second highest rate of undernourished people in the world. Furthermore, anaemia affects more than half of Indian women, contributing to the increased risk of low-birth-weight infants. In children under the age of five, lack of food an unbalanced diet and are directly related to increased incidence of stunting, obesity, and mortality. Hidden hunger in the form of micronutrient deficiencies is also a serious public health concern. So, initiatives connected to food supply availability as well as economic access are required. In this setting, kitchen gardens play a key role in fulfilling dietary and nutritional needs by providing direct access to food that can be picked, cooked and consumed on a daily basis by household members. Fruits and vegetables, which are rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre, antioxidants and phytochemicals, play an important role in human nutrition. Thus, a kitchen garden can play an important role in increasing the availability and consumption of fruits and vegetables, adding variety to the plate and reducing reliance on purchases to meet the nutritional needs of underprivileged communities. Making people aware of the necessity of having a kitchen garden and eating vegetables and fruits to address micronutrient deficiencies, as well as keeping in mind the health of women and children in particular is crucial. Thus, kitchen gardens can have a vital role to improve household food and nutrition security, as well as nutritional diversity, in order to prevent malnutrition.

Copyright information

© Integrated Publications.
Access This Chapter
Chapter
₹ 100
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever