Poddar Foundation and The IMA Maharashtra

Poddar Foundation is focused on raising awareness around mental and emotional health, leading to long term wellness. As food eating disorders are within the ambit of Mental/Emotional Illness Prevention Programs, we have tied up with the IMA Maharashtra and its 37,000 doctors in Maharashtra to support them in the battle against junk food and obesity. This program is to be rolled out in schools across Maharashtra.

We understand that prevention is better than cure and therefore wish to impact young minds by providing them with knowledge and skills in order to take charge of their own health and nutrition. Furthermore, we aim to empower the ‘gatekeepers’ with the knowledge and resources in order to embed healthy habits in their families.

The Project

Poddar Foundation has taken a formal decision to focus on the ecosystem of children, in order to bring back physical activity in their life and raise the awareness levels about mental and physical health, with a specific focus on obesity and junk food.
To create the scale for large impact, Poddar Foundation has tied up with the IMA Maharashtra, and this has been widely reported in electronic media and the Press.

Why are we starting with the Children?

Children are our nation’s future and also the catalyst of change. Empowering them with the right information can not only improve their health, resilience and mental makeup, but it will empower them to lead a productive and fulfilling life. Our immediate focus is the exponentially growing problem of childhood obesity which negatively impacts the child physical, mental and emotional well being. The WHO has termed child obesity as an ‘exploding nightmare’. The latest report by WHO on childhood obesity in India, reports that in the last 5 years, for children and adolescents between the ages of 5-19, there is an alarming increase to a 22 per cent prevalence rate of obesity. That means that 1 in 5 children is obese. A higher BMI affects the structural and functional changes in the brain. It is often accompanied by a reduced ability to form and/or retrieve episodic memories and affect the brain’s ability to perform certain cognitive tasks optimally. Psychologically as obesity rises among children, it not only affects their self-esteem but also promotes alienation and bullying. The extra weight on the child takes a toll on his/her health, affecting his physical agility, academic performance and overall confidence.

Mumbai's TOTAL population:
18.4 million

RATIO OF CHILDREN IN THE POPULATION OF INDIA : 0-14 YEARS- 31.2%

TOTAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN MUMBAI:-1,203,770