Thread by @sakie339

"Children from non-dominant caste and religious backgrounds are also the ones that bear the brunt of malnutrition. A study found that casteism was linked to stunted growth — often caused by poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life."
theswaddle.com/karnataka-scho…

"Data suggests that children from the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community were 14% more likely to be stunted than dominant-caste Hindu children; children from the OBC community were 10% more likely, and upper-caste Muslim children 9%."

The National Institute of Nutrition has made the inclusion of eggs in mid-day meals mandatory since “they are considered cheaper, safer, more nutritious, and easier to procure than alternatives such as milk or bananas,” The Wire reported in 2018.

“Parents have complained that children come home from school and repeat ideological propaganda like garlic is bad for health, or meat will lead to a lack of concentration in studies… None of this comes from any scientific basis, it only comes from prejudice,”

Dr. Karpagam notes. “When we asked children why they don’t want to demand eggs in school, they say, ‘We should respect others.’ But respect only flows one way. Everyone needs to respect vegetarians, but vegetarians are completely disrespectful of the eating habits of others,”

"Religious groups that don’t eat eggs mostly don’t study in govt. schools which are often occupied by children who eat meat/onion/garlic/eggs. So whose concerns are these? Clearly, a minority that holds power and political influence is dictating what children should not eat,”

“The decision to include eggs in the mid-day meal scheme was based on surveys that indicated malnutrition in children… We also had inputs from experts that egg was the best-known single source of protein. This led to its inclusion in the mid-day meal scheme” Nagesh said.

The Karnataka govt. recently announced eggs will be included in mid-day meals across several districts to battle malnutrition. But the decision has resulted in backlash from religious groups — so much so, that the government has reportedly begun looking for alternatives to eggs.