haya.Learning made clear
ICMR and NIN: research, requirements and guidelines sheet
10-mark answer frame

Discuss the role of ICMR and NIN in combating malnutrition in India.

How to lay out the answer. Follow the frame, then write it in your own words.

  1. 1 · Open in two lines. ICMR is India's apex medical research body, and NIN, Hyderabad, is its institute for nutrition. Together they provide the science behind India's nutrition programmes.
  2. 2 · ICMR. 1911 as IRFA, renamed 1949; under the Department of Health Research; expert groups, research funding, advice to government.
  3. 3 · Draw the NIN timeline. [Timeline: 1918 Coonoor → 1925 Deficiency Diseases Enquiry → Nutrition Research Laboratories → 1958 Hyderabad → 1969 NIN]
  4. 4 · Contributions of NIN.
    • Requirements (2020) and dietary guidelines (2024).
    • IFCT 2017 and NNMB surveys.
    • Research: vitamin A, IFA, double fortified salt, lathyrism, fluorosis.
    • Training and toxicology.
  5. 5 · The 2020 requirements. Reference man 65 kg and woman 55 kg; EAR, RDA and TUL; iron 19 and 29 mg/day.
  6. 6 · Use by programmes. ICDS and school meal norms, Anemia Mukt Bharat and fortification standards all rest on ICMR-NIN work.
  7. 7 · In the community. Dietitians use IFCT 2017 and the 2020 requirements to plan anganwadi and hostel menus.
  8. 8 · Close in one line. Without ICMR-NIN's science, India's nutrition programmes would have no targets to aim at.

Scoring tip: Separate ICMR (the council) from NIN (its nutrition institute) clearly, and give NIN's history as a timeline.