News & Events
Hidden Hunger, reason for lower intelligence
Indian Express
Thursday, October 5, 2006.
Thrissur, October 4: The number of children with learning disability is increasing in the state and the prime reason is deficiency of micronutrients.
A study conducted by the Foundation for Social Health, a Thrissur based NGO, which works in the field of learning disabilities and stress among school children, reveals that more than 10 percent of a given sample of children in any place suffer from disabilities which turn personality disorders as the child gets older.
Mytri Samagata, the Executive Director of the Foundation, says that 50 percent of the children, coming from below poverty line (BPL) families, have low IQ and they suffer from various other physical and emotional problems. The study conducted by the NGO at Puthoor Panchayat reveals that poverty and lower intelligence have a high positive correlation. Rajeev C. Bharathan, an economist who works with the NGO, says that hidden hunger is the reason for such disabilities. "The child may be fully fed in the physical sense but may not be taking enough nutrients, especially in the growing stages", he said.
The data published by the National Family Health Survey also corroborate the findings. The survey points out that 57 percent of the children below the age of 12 are not properly fed. The study points out that the students who were bright in the lower primary classes find their studies hard when they go into the higher classes. This disability is due to their low intelligence level which has direct relation to their deficient food intake, Mytri said. Random sampling conducted with the help of NSS volunteers reveals that the main cause for poverty is alcoholism. Mytri adds that the disability to perform with the others frustrates the children and it leads them to depression and other diseases.
Rihabilitation Council of India (RCI)
A Statutory Body of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India.
The-Hindu Monday, October 16, 2006
Invites Proposels for Starting
Certificate / Diploma / Degree / Master level courses in the field of special education & Disability Rehabilitation for the academic year 2007-2008 from institusions, Organizations, NGOs, Universities.
Foundation for Social Health to be inagurated Tomorrow.
The New Indian Express
Saturday, June 17, 2006.
Thrissur, June 16: Foundation for Social Health, an NGO run by psychatrists, will be formally inagurated at the Mundassery Smaraka Auditorium on Sunday...
