Tucson, AZ (January 12, 2010) For the second year in a row, The Body and Mind Clinic and Research Center (BMCRC) at Vatsala Hospital in Tulsi Das marg Lucknow, India is the recipient of a $1,000 grant from the Consumer Wellness Center's (CWC) Nutritional Grant Program. Headed by Dr. Sanjeev Rastogi, MD, D.Yoga, C.Ac, GHC, DHHM, and Consulting Physician and Acupuncturist, the Center operates as the hospital's holistic unit and is actively engaged in educating pregnant women who live in rural and suburban India about proper nutrition.

Last year's achievements were a big success

Last year BMCRC received the award to use for jump starting the nutrition education program that helped to successfully train 50 low-income expectant mothers between 20 and 30 years old about proper nutrition. The mothers were registered early on in their pregnancies, trained in preparing healthful meals, monitored throughout their pregnancies, and evaluated at the end of the third trimester.

At the end of the program, children whose mother's had received nutritional training were born healthier, weighing an average of seven ounces more than children whose mothers did not receive any nutritional education. For more information about the initial success of Dr. Rastogi's CWC sponsored prenatal education project, please take a look at: http://www.consumerwellness.org/PR04.html last year's award announcement.

How this year's award will be used

This year, Dr. Rastogi has initiated a new philanthropic outreach through Vatsala Samanvit Chikitsa Shodha Sansthan (VSCSS) called the “Nutrition Awareness Program for Expectant Mothers from Rural/Suburban population: A pilot program for rural Uttar Pradesh”, which he hopes will break the cycle of nutritional illiteracy among Indian women by educating them on a larger scale. Building upon last year's efforts, the new program will expand the goals of the previous one by reaching out to other rural communities around India. Since last year's program proved incredibly effective, we have decided this year's expanded efforts are deserving of a second grant.

The specific goal of the new program is to find a rural or suburban community near Lucknow that is lacking adequate medical facilities and begin campaigning about the importance of proper nutrition. With the help of local officials, elders, and spiritual leaders who are respected in the community, Dr. Rastogi plans to launch a pilot program that would gather as many families as possible to participate in the program collectively. He plans to use flyers, demonstrations, and other media methods to garner attention and raise awareness. Once enrolled, families will participate in educational programs that include periodic visits from clinic workers who will test expectant mothers' hemoglobin levels and measure their progress. The award money will be used specifically for necessary travel expenses, information dissemination, and hemoglobin test administration.

Dr. Rastogi's approach in training is interesting is that, rather than focus only on supplementation with vitamins and minerals which are often too expensive for people in the target groups, he plans to educate them about how to properly prepare traditional herbs, fruits, vegetables, and other foods to obtain maximum nutritional benefit. In other words, he plans to teach them how to properly prepare the native foods that they already eat, a fantastic idea that is not only cost-effective but invaluable for society.

Helping locals to overcome their hesitancy to outsiders who come offering health advice will be part of the program as well since many people have had bad experiences dealing with government health initiatives in the past. Though not a government initiative, Dr. Rastogi's program may initially be perceived as a threat or intrusion which he realizes may require concerted effort to overcome.

Dr. Rastogi also realizes that many people who do enroll will be expecting immediate results which may not be possible with this type of program. Like all effective health regimens, there is no magic pill that will instantly provide radical results; a sustained change in diet and lifestyle habits will achieve the most effective, long-term benefits for health. Dr. Rastogi recognizes these things and is working on developing the most effective methods of communicating with people about these issues.

We at CWC share the same approach to health care as does Dr. Rastogi and are proud to support his efforts. We look forward to sharing with all of you the progress he is making with the new program in the coming months.

From all of us here at the CWC, congratulations Dr. Sanjeev Rastogi! Thanks to your hard work, Indian women will be better equipped to make proper nutritional decisions, resulting in improved health for themselves, their children, and the many generations that will follow. We would also like to thank our generous sponsors whose contributions make work like Dr. Rastogi's possible!

Update: June 10, 2010

Below are some pictures of Baburi Village which is the proposed site for Dr. Rastogi's upcoming program. You can click each picture for a larger version.

Click here to learn more about Baburi Village. (79kb PDF)

Click here to read the final report for the Baburi Village grant program. (185kb PDF)

Learn more about the CWC nutrition grant program at: http://www.consumerwellness.org/NutritionalGrantProgram.html

About Consumer Wellness Center
The Consumer Wellness Center (http://www.ConsumerWellness.org) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit focused on educational initiatives that empower consumers with knowledge and wisdom on disease prevention, nutrition, peak mental and physical health and natural health modalities. The center sells no vitamins, supplements, foods or medical products, and earns no commissions from the sale of such products.

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