We conducted a baseline survey in 2900 households drawn from 2 slums and 6 community development blocks (see note)—that is, 2 community development blocks from each of the 3 districts selected out of the 15 districts of Tamil Nadu (which is one of the 22 states [provinces] in India). Based on the findings of the survey, we identified priority concepts in nutrition and health education, and environmental sanitation. We incorporated these concepts into the existing elementary school curriculum and developed suitable instructional materials. We then provided a 5-day orientation for all of the 6000 teachers from the 660 elementary schools in the selected 6 community development blocks and 2 slums. The orientation training was carried out by instructors who had bachelor's degrees in education and master's degrees in nutrition. The trained elementary school teachers, in turn, taught the nutrition and health, and environmental sanitation lessons to their classes. We evaluated the knowledge of the children and teachers; the practices of the mothers with regard to food, health, and hygiene; and the anthropometric and clinical status of the children. For purposes of this study we limited our evaluations of the school children to students in classes 3–5 (equivalent to grades 3–5 in the U.S.). The encouraging results from this study pave the way for further expansion of the program throughout the state and in other states of the Indian Union Republic.

While good nutrition is important throughout childhood, it is crucial during the first five years of life. Therefore existence of the problems of malnutrition and under nutrition pose a serious threat to their growth and development.

Young children are the most afflicted victims of consequences of vitamin A deficiency. For them light is shut for ever. Blindness incapacitates them for the rest of their lives, thus placing a heavy burden on the society.

The maize varieties presently cultivated in India contain 10 to 12 per cent total protein. However, the quality of their protein is poor, lacking in the essential amino acids-lysine, tryptophan and isoleucine. Hence production of a hybrid maize in which these amino acids are present in the required quantities will have a direct beneficial effect on improving human nutrition. Such an effort, made in Purdue University, U. S. A. in 1966, resulted in the opaque-2 strain of maize, rich in the amino acids, lysine and tryptophan.

Nutritional anaemia is a major public health problem in India, with 47 per cent of the pregnant women and 50 per cent of the preschool children suffering from this syndrome. Although not fatal, anaemia results in reduced work efficiency, lethargy, sluggishness, increased susceptibility to infection and low birth weights of the new born.