No child’s fare

Back home,with a population of over one billion,India is home to 400 million children,the largest number in any country in the world. Statistics are depressing with one-third of the world’s children living in poverty are in India and to add to our horror,over ten million children sleep on the pavement each night hungry and unprotected. Ten thousand babies die every single day from malnutrition and diarrhoea which otherwise can be easily prevented or timely cured. Female foeticide attacks every sixth girl-child due to gender discrimination. Nearly half of India’s children are deprived of their fundamental right to education each Day. The engulfing gap between malnourished and over nourished children needs to be bridged by us at a fast pace.

It is all about feeding our future. As parents,we often talk about the younger generations as if we did not have anything to do with it. What our children eat determines whether they are active adults with no deficiencies or excesses and their associated emotional and physical difficulties. At one extreme end,we have anorexic children who eat little and pile up heaps of left-over food on their plates and the other extreme finds children with very little on their plates who eat left overs from the heaps of unwanted food. It is high time we did something about it. Every child’s nutritional requirement must be met. We need to educate our future generation to make wiser choices where food is concerned. The lure of the junk food industries is way too glorified and hyped that our children are being sucked in that direction which has very little to offer in terms of nutrients. Our children whether growing up in poverty or in wealth,tend to be ignored or indulged. Let us make each day a day for our children to nurture them and nourish them which will make a big difference in the current situation and condition of children in India. In the words of Jesse Jackson,the American civil rights activist,“Your children need your presence more than your presents.” We gift our children virtual games,ipods,cell phones,the latest gizmos but let us not forget that we also gift them genetic disorders and hereditary diseases for which we are responsible and need to steer clear them of such a dread. The only way is through educating them and making them aware.

We talk a lot about the kind of world we should be leaving our children. Most importantly,what kind of world are we offering them right now? Think about it. A recipe for a perfect nutrient dense granola culled from the World Wide Web makes a nice addition to the lunchbox.

CRISPY CRUNCHY GRANOLA MUNCHIES
Ingredients
1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar,packed
2 eggs,beaten
1/4 cup light brown sugar,packed
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1/4 to cup semisweet chocolate chips (or raisins)

Method
In a mixing bowl,beat butter with 1/2 cup brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in oats,flours,and wheat germ. Press mixture into a buttered 9-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Stir together the eggs and 1/4 cup brown sugar; stir in almonds,coconut,and chocolate chips or raisins then spread evenly over the baked layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Roll into bars while still warm.

(The writer is a city-based diet and food consultant who can be contacted at adda.mehrotra@gmail.com)