The mid-day meal programme and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) aim to improve child nutrition, health, and development in India. The mid-day meal programme provides school lunches to attract and retain children in schools. ICDS provides an integrated package of services including supplementary nutrition, immunization, health check-ups, and non-formal education to children under 6, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. The objectives are to improve nutritional status, health, development, and school retention of children while enhancing mothers' health knowledge. Services are delivered through anganwadi centers and include food, healthcare, education and community outreach.

1. Mid- day meal programme
The mid- day meal programme is also known as school lunch programme. This
programme has been in operation since 1961 throughout the country. The major
objective of the programme is to attract more children for admission to schools and
retain them so that literacy improvement of children could be brought about.
In formulating mid-day meals for school children the following broad principles
should kept in mind
a. The meal should be a supplement and not a substitute to the home diet
b. The meal should supply at least one-third of the total energy requirement, and half
of the protein need.
c. The cost of the meal should be reasonably low
d. The meal should be such that it can be prepared easily in schools; no complicated
cooking process should be involved
e. As far as possible, locally available foods should be used ; this will reduce the
cost of the meal and
f. The menu should be frequently changed to avoid monotony
INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENTSERVICES (ICDS)
The government of India in the ministry of social and womens welfare initiated the ICDS
in 1975, in pursuance of the national policy for children.
The ICDS seeks to lay a solid foundation for the development of the nation’s human
resource by providing an integrated package of early childhood services. These consist of
1) Supplementary nutrition
2) Immunization
3) Health check-up
4) Medical referral services
5) Nutrition and health education for women
6) Non- formal education of children up to the age of 6 years and pregnant and
nursing mothers in rural, urban and tribal areas.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the ICDS scheme are;
1) To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group 0-6
years.
2) To lay the foundations for proper psychological, physical and social development
of the child.
3) To reduce mortality and, morbidity, malnutrition and school drop-out
4) To achieve an effective co ordination of policy and implementation among the
various departments working for the promotion of child development.
5) To enhance the capability of the mother and nutritional needs of the child through
proper nutrition and health education.
To achieve the above objective the ICDS aims at providing the following package
of services.

2. BENEFICIARY SERVICES
Pregnant women
Nursing mothers
Other women 15-45 years
Children less than 3 years
Children in age group 3-6 years
Health check-up
Immunization against tetanus
Supplementary nutrition
Nutrition and health education
Health check-up
Supplementary nutrition
Nutrition and health education
Nutrition and health education
Supplementary nutrition
Immunization
Health check-up
Referral services
Supplementary nutrition
Immunization, Health check-up
Referral services
Non- formal education
The strategy adopted in ICDS is one of simultaneous delivery of early childhood
services.
DELIVERY OF SERVICES
1. Supplementary nutrition:
Supplementary nutrition is given to children below 6 years, and nursing and
expectant mothers from low-income group. The type of food depends upon local
availability, type of beneficiary, location of the project etc. The aim is to supplement
nutritional intake by about 200 cal and 8-10 grams of protein for children below 1
year; about 300 cal and 15 grams of protein for children between 1-6 years; and about
500 cal and 25 grams of protein for pregnant women and nursing mothers.
Supplementary nutrition is given in 300 days a year. Supplementary nutrition is given
to children suffering from 2nd and 3rd degree malnutrition.
2. Nutrition and health education
Nutrition education and health education is given to all women in the age group
15- 45 years, giving priority to nursing and expectant mothers. It is imparted by
specially organized courses in village during home visits by anganwadi workers.
3. Immunization
Immunization of children against 6 vaccine preventable diseases is being done,
while for expectant mothers, immunization against tetanus is recommended
4. Health check-up
This include
a. antenatal care of expectant mothers;

3. b. Post-natal care of nursing mother and care of newborn infants
c. Care of children under 6 years of age
Besides immunization, expectant mothers are given iron and folic acid
tablets along with protein supplements. A minimum of 3 physical examinations are
done. High-risk mothers are referred to appropriate institutions for special care.
The health care of children under 6 years of age consists of;
1. Record of weight and height of children at periodical intervals.
2. watch over mile-stones
3. Immunization
4. General check-up every 3-6 months to detect disease, malnutrition etc.
5. Treatment for disease like diarrhea, dysentery, respiratory tract infections etc.
which are widely prevalent
6. Deworming
7. Prophylaxis against vitamin A deficiency and anaemia
8. Referral of serious cases to hospital has also been provided for.
HEALTH RECORDS: Health records of the children antenatal care and
delivery card etc. are maintained. A card containing the health record of the child is
given to the mother.
5. Non- formal pre-school education
Children between the ages 3-6 years are imparted non- formal pre-school
education in an anganwadi in each village with about 1000 population. The objective
is to provide opportunities to develop desirable attitude, values and behaviour pattern
among children. Locally produced inexpensive toys and material are used in
organizing play and creative activity.
The government of India is committed to child development as a policy priority and
is steadily expanding ICDS programme with the ultimate aim of reaching every child
under the age of 6 years before the turn of the century. The impact of the programme
on the lives of children is evident in several crucial indicators: Increased birth weight,
reduced incidence of malnutrition, increased immunization coverage, and a reduced
infant and child mortality rate in areas covered by the ICDS.