Teaching Kitchen Project: Bhavishya Shakti

The Teaching Kitchen is a mobile multi-purpose space that serves as a community hub for malnutrition screening and prevention, health promotion, and disease prevention and a safe haven within the urban slums. The objectives of the programme are to:

• Improve awareness (Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices) of diet diversity and disease prevention
• Measure indicators of nutritional health
• Use cooking skills as a medium for education
• Provide resources and signposting for food security
• Promote social empowerment and impact preventative health

TIGR2ESS Flagship Project 6

TIGR2ESS focuses on education, empowerment and entrepreneurship leading to improved human nutrition, health and wellbeing. Key population determinants include heredity, environment, diet, lifestyle and socioeconomic circumstances. Within this framework, education, empowerment and entrepreneurship are important factors that can define a theory of change that can improve lives and livelihoods, leading to better human nutrition, health and wellbeing with implications for community resilience and economic productivity. Our flagship project explores the relationships between these factors through assessing needs and piloting innovative intervention models. Prof. Sumantra Ray is co-leading one of the seven Flagship University of Cambridge Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) projects with Dr. Shailaja Fennell to explore how education, empowerment, and entrepreneurship relates to human nutrition, health and wellbeing. Read more

NEPHELP India and Medical Colleges Project

This project evaluates nutrition knowledge and stress mapping among first year MBBS students in four different medical colleges in Kolkata and subsequent intervention through nutrition education and lifestyle management. Results for this initiative will be presented soon.

NELICO

NELICO = The Nutrition Education and Leadership for Improved Clinical/Public Health Outcomes In 2014, NNEdPro conducted a needs assessment in relation to nutritional care of almost 200 doctors and dietitians in Kolkata, India. The assessment identified a need for research training to enable the generation of local data. The exercise also highlighted the dependency of key health workers on nutrition guidelines that are derived from results of studies conducted in the western world. Following this initial assessment, in February 2015, five members of the NNEdPro Group were invited to deliver a two day workshop in and around the 14th World Congress on Public Health (WCPH) in Kolkata, to provide important information to support local initiatives in nutrition care. Workshop 1: To provide early-career public health and healthcare professionals with the knowledge, resources and skills to be ambassadors for evidence-based practice. Workshop 2: To highlight the importance of nutrition as part of healthcare responsibilities and empowering change through management and leadership techniques, by focusing on the dynamic interaction between medical doctors, nutritionists and dietitians Following the workshop, ten ‘NELICO Champions’ were selected. Two ‘NELICO’ projects were selected to raise nutritional awareness in the Indian population and 2 teams were put together made up of ‘Champions’ to implement the projects from February 2015 to February 2016. ​ Read our publication on "Confidence and Attitudes of Doctors and Dietitians towards Nutrition Care and Nutrition Advocacy for Hospital Patients in Kolkata, India"

Urban Slum Dwellers Project

This project assess the current nutritional status of children between 6 to 12 years in a Kolkata slum and educates mothers through nutrition education workshops. Findings from this project will be published in peer-reviewed journals in the next few months.