In India, 1 out of 3 children under 5 years suffer from malnutrition. In Pune district, National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data of 2019-2021 reveals concerning figures, indicating that 30.7 percent of children under five years were stunted, 32.7 percent were underweight, 31.4 percent were wasted and 14 percent were severely wasted.

Quaker, a brand that stands for nutrition, in collaboration with the PepsiCo Foundation and MAMTA HIMC, launched the Quaker Bowl of Growth Programme addressing child malnutrition through three key pillars: providing nutrition to children aged 3 to 5 years, educating parents/caregivers, and spreading awareness in the community.

The need of the hour is to spread awareness for nutrition and child health in this specific community, by introducing a solution in the culture itself, for a more powerful and long lasting impact.

Central to the Idea is the tradition of Dohale Jevan, a baby shower like ritual celebrated in the Maharashtra region of India, held during the seventh-ninth month of pregnancy. This ritual has three prominent symbols, a 'bow and arrow' to give strength to the child, a 'lotus' for beauty and the 'moon' for radiance. Through this cultural nuance, our film highlights the significance of nutrition in a child’s life, by adding the fourth symbol of a 'Bowl' to this ritual, underscoring Quaker’s commitment to ‘Poshan right, toh future bright’ (future is bright, when nutrition is right). It emphasizes the importance of nutrition for a child’s growth.

Target Audience:

Parents of yet to be born children and parents of children between the age of 0-5 years, from the communities where nutrition is often confused with being full. The access to Nutrition in these communities is not just limited by resources but by lack of awareness.

Approach:

Make nutrition a part of the existing culture which will lead to adoption of nutritious food by parents for their children in the age group of 0-5, thus fighting malnourishment.

To enhance community awareness, Quaker launched its first long-format ad film titled ‘Dohale Jevan Poshanchi Vaati’. An emotionally evocative narrative, that spread awareness about the nutritional needs of growing children, helped us connect deeply with audiences, by incorporating elements of ethnicity and culture.

To spread awareness about the new symbol, the bowl (signifying nutrition), in the affected communities, we added the fourth symbol in Puja Thaali (Worship Plates) and sarees used in the ceremony.

Also this involved conducting standard age-appropriate anthropometric assessments to evaluate the nutritional status and medical screenings of 3-5 year old kids in this region. Once identified, these children receive daily servings of ‘Panjiri,’ a locally accepted recipe made from a specially formulated Quaker multigrain & millet product, enriched with 18 essential nutrients.

Awareness about the importance of nutrition grew in the target community from 13% to 98.7%.

The campaign was covered by 313 publications, and the total reach was over 9,41,22,238, with digital impressions being more than 5,58,22,800.