Context of the Editorial:

• The editorial is written against the backdrop of the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in Paris and the UNGA’s extension of the Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025 → 2030).
  
  
• It calls for a shift in global nutrition discourse: from access to food to understanding what and how to eat, especially in children and adolescents.
  
  
• Emphasizes the critical role of schools in building nutrition literacy and fostering healthy lifelong habits.
  
  

📌 Key Themes & Analysis:

1. ✅ Beyond the First 1000 Days – Focus on Adolescence

• Traditional focus in global nutrition has been on the first 1,000 days (conception to age 2) – rightly so.
  
  
• But now, science shows that the next 4,000 days (till 18 years) are equally critical.
  
  
  • Period of rapid growth, emotional and behavioral development.
    
    
  • Offers a second window of opportunity to overcome early deficits and promote long-term health.
    
    

📝 UPSC Linkage: GS II – Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; GS III – Health.

2. 🍽️ Food Literacy – A Transformative Approach

• Food literacy = Knowing what, why, and how to eat.
  
  
  • Involves knowledge, skills, and attitudes to make healthy food choices.
    
    
  • Goes beyond just feeding – includes reading food labels, understanding cooking, and knowing food sources.
    
    
• Children’s food choices are shaped by:
  
  
  • Family habits.
    
    
  • Marketing/advertising (often unhealthy).
    
    
  • Cultural traditions.
    
    

📝 UPSC Ethics GS IV Linkage: Responsibility towards future generations, health equity, behavioral ethics.

3. 🥦 Poor Dietary Diversity – A Silent Crisis

• Many Indian children consume monotonous diets, lacking 5 out of 10 food groups
  
  
• Leads to:
  
  
  • Hidden hunger (micronutrient deficiency).
    
    
  • Childhood obesity, stunting, mental ill-health, and non-communicable diseases.
    
    
  • 70% of adult disease patterns are linked to childhood diet patterns.
    
    
• SDG Linkage: SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) + SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing).
  
  

📝 UPSC GS III: Food security, malnutrition, non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

4. 🏫 Role of Schools in Nutrition Education

• Currently, food and nutrition education is missing or treated as an occasional awareness activity.
  
  
• Real shift needed:
  
  
  • Make it part of the regular school curriculum.
    
    
  • Include weekly lessons, simple cooking, reading food labels, school gardens.
    
    
  • Promote experiential learning and lifelong skills.
    
    
• The NEP 2020 and School Health & Wellness Programme provide a starting point, but:
  
  
  • Need dedicated weekly sessions.
    
    
  • Need for trained teachers, clear curriculum.
    
    
  • Must be hands-on and integrated, not theoretical.
    
    

📝 GS II: Government policy & interventions; GS IV: Ethical responsibility of institutions.

5. 🌾 Food as a Sustainability & Identity Issue

• Promoting local, seasonal, traditional foods benefits:
  
  
  • Health,
    
    
  • Food security,
    
    
  • Local livelihoods,
    
    
  • Environmental sustainability.
    
    
• Children must develop a relationship with food that connects:
  
  
  • Culture, health, environment, and identity.
    
    

📝 GS III – Agriculture & environment linkages; GS IV – Values: empathy, environmental ethics.

✅ Way Forward:

1. Institutionalize food literacy as part of the school system – not just awareness days.
   
   
2. Train teachers, design curriculum for age-appropriate food education.
   
   
3. Promote community kitchens, school gardens, and cooking education.
   
   
4. Encourage multi-sectoral coordination: health + education + agriculture + environment ministries.
   
   
5. Ensure parent and community involvement to reinforce food education at home.
   
   

GS Paper IV – Ethics in Public Life & Society

“Teaching a child how to eat well is an ethical responsibility of society.” Examine the moral and ethical dimensions of childhood nutrition, especially in the context of rising lifestyle diseases and food-related inequalities.