Global data indicate a high prevalence of hidden hunger among population. Deficiencies of certain micronutrients such as folic acid, iodine, iron, and vitamin A have long lasting effects on growth and development and therefore have been a National priority from many decades. The strategy implemented so far limits to the use of supplemental sources or fortified foods in alleviating the burden of deficiencies. These approaches however undermine the food-based strategies involving dietary diversification as the long-term sustainable strategy. There is lack of understanding on the level of evidence needed to implement such strategies and the level of monitoring required for impact evaluation. Dietary diversity concerns how to ensure access for each individual to a quality and safe diet with adequate macro- and micronutrients. The key to success in using dietary diversity as a strategy to tackle hidden hunger is in integrating it with the principles of bioavailability, translated to efficient food synergies with due emphasis on food accessibility, affordability, and outdoor physical activity/life style modifications. Promoting enabling environment and sustainable agriculture is crucial for practicing dietary diversification with behavior change communication as an integral segment. It can be concluded that food-based strategies require careful understanding of the factors associated with it and moderate it to form an effective strategy for controlling multiple micronutrient deficiencies.

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Objective: To assess the magnitude and determinants of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and coverage of vitamin A supplementation (VAS) among pre-school children. Design: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out by adopting a multistage, stratified, random sampling procedure. Setting: Rural areas of eight states in India. Subjects: Pre-school children and their mothers were covered. Results: A total of 71 591 pre-school children were clinically examined for ocular signs of VAD. Serum retinol concentrations in dried blood spots were assessed in a sub-sample of 3954 children using HPLC. The prevalence of Bitot spots was 0?8 %. The total ocular signs were significantly higher (P , 0?001) among boys (2?6 %) compared with girls (1?9 %) and in older children (3-4 years) compared (P , 0?001) with younger (1-2 years), and were also high in children of labourers, scheduled castes and illiterate mothers. The odds of having Bitot spots was highest in children of scheduled caste (OR 5 3?8; 95 % CI 2?9, 5?0), labourers (OR 5 2?9; 95 % CI 2?1, 3?9), illiterate mothers (OR 5 2?7; 95 % CI 2?2, 2?3) and households without a sanitary latrine (OR 5 5?9; 95 % CI 4?0, 8?7). Subclinical VAD (serum retinol level ,20 mg/dl) was observed in 62 % of children. This was also relatively high among scheduled caste and scheduled tribe children. The rate of coverage of VAS was 58 %. Conclusions: The study revealed that VAD is a major nutritional problem and coverage of VAS was poor. The important determinants of VAD were illiteracy, low socio-economic status, occupation and poor sanitation. Strengthening the existing VAS programme and focused attention on dietary diversification are essential for prevention of VAD.

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The high rainfall and low sea level during Early Holocene had a significant impact on the development and sustenance of dense forest and swamp-marsh cover along the southwest coast of India. This heavy rainfall flooded the coastal plains, forest flourishing in the abandoned river channels and other low-lying areas in midland.The coastline and other areas in lowland of southwestern India supply sufficient evidence of tree trunks of wet evergreen forests getting buried during the Holocene period under varying thickness of clay, silty-clay and even in sand sequences. This preserved subfossil log assemblage forms an excellent proxy for eco-geomorphological and palaeoclimate appraisal reported hitherto from Indian subcontinent, and complements the available palynological data. The bulk of the subfossil logs and partially carbonized wood remains have yielded age prior to the Holocene transgression of 6.5 k yrs BP, suggesting therein that flooding due to heavy rainfall drowned the forest cover, even extending to parts of the present shelf. These preserved logs represent a unique palaeoenvironmental database as they contain observable cellular structure. Some of them can even be compared to modern analogues. As these woods belong to the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, they form a valuable source of climate data that alleviates the lack of contemporaneous meteorological records. These palaeoforests along with pollen proxies depict the warmer environment in this region, which is consistent with a Mid Holocene Thermal Maximum often referred to as Holocene Climate Optimum. Thus, the subfossil logs of tropical evergreen forests constitute new indices of Asian palaeomonsoon, while their occurrence and preservation are attributed to eco-geomorphology and hydrological regimes associated with the intensified Asian Summer Monsoon, as recorded elsewhere.

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