Communicating Nutrition in Community Settings: Case Studies in Critical Examination of Institutional Approaches in India

Abstract

With co-existence of under-nutrition and obesity among its people, malnutrition afflicts India like a double-edged sword. The search for solutions has often pointed at 'Nutrition Communication' as a tool in alleviating malnutrition. This study, through three case studies in India, attempts to critically examine how various organizations engaged in nutrition communication perceive, develop and implement communicative processes. These case studies typically combined data collection methods like information gathering and interviews. We realize nutrition communication programmes are top-down, expert-driven and are often denied planning, evaluation or budgets. We argue that factors such as the organization's knowledge of the nutrition problem(s), perceptions of the key communicators, their motivation levels and personal biases also affect the design and implementation of nutrition communication programmes. © 2014 Mudra Institute of Communications.