Dissemination of Seed Grant Research Findings

The Department of Public Policy hosted the dissemination of research findings from the Seed Grant Project titled "Understanding Demand-Side Barriers to Addressing Anemia: Insights from Adolescent Girls and Women in Chikkaballapura, Karnataka" on 29th October 2025 at Heritage block, GG Campus.

The project was led by Dr. Aishwarya, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy, and Suresh Darla, Data Analytics Lead, Board Secretariat, BoM - GEF(M).

The event featured several distinguished guests:

• Smt. Uma Mahadevan, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner, Government of Karnataka.
• Dr. Indira Kabade, Deputy Director (Nutrition), Health and Family Welfare Department.
• Shri Venkatesh Reddy, Deputy Director, Women and Child Development (WCD) Department.
• Dr. Mahesh, District Health Officer (DHO), Chikkaballapura.

The formal presentation was followed by a panel discussion featuring MSRUAS faculties: Dr. Indira Ramarao (School of Social Sciences), Dr. Tejaswini B. D. (Life and Allied Health Sciences), Dr. Ananth Ram V. (Community Medicine), and Dr. Ashwin Kulkarni (General Medicine).

The event was well-attended, with approximately 150 participants, including faculties and students from various departments (FLAHS, Public Health Dentistry, Food Technology, RMC, Critical Care Medicine, and SSS), along with two representatives from the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust, Bengaluru.

The research highlighted the urgent need to communicate the importance of a balanced diet in daily life and to raise awareness of the serious implications of anemia for maternal and child health. A key finding was the link between excessive consumption of junk food among adolescents and poor nutritional status.

Delegates expressed concern over dietary habits, noting that while the knowledge of balanced diets is widespread in both urban and rural areas, negligence in adopting these habits remains the core barrier. They emphasized the benefits of current government schemes such as Anaemia Mukt Bharat, Anaemia Muktha Poustika Karnataka, and Graha Arogya, under which mass anemia training and screening are being conducted.