Veerni's nutrition team is involved in on-going research regarding the extent of malnutrition and is committed to eradicate it through nutritional supplements. Research for the Nutrition Program is now taking place in 6 villages and will be finished in the fall of 2007.

Last year a supplementary biscuits program was carried out in two villages. Initially, out of 32 children, 18 were severely malnourished and 14 moderately malnourished. At the end of the trial, 16 were in the normal group and 16 in the mild to moderate group. There were no cases of severely malnourished children. However, although the supplements contained essential calories and proteins, they did not contain the micronutrients needed to encourage growth and prevent stunting and anaemia in the long term.

In the summer of 2007, a program with soya-based biscuits along with the micronutrients has been implemented in 2 of the 6 villages involved in the research. If Veerni can provide evidence that the results are positive, the biscuits can be patented and sold in the wider community. This program could prove that children can be rescued from malnutrition in a short time and grow into healthy adults. Veerni is committed to nutrition programs that are cutting edge and can cure malnutrition in a few weeks.

Malnutrition is still rampant in India, and especially in rural Rajasthan with its monsoon dependent agriculture and poor living conditions. According to the World Bank, India has unacceptably high levels of malnutrition despite ownership of large stocks of food grains resulting from increased agricultural productivity. There are two primary reasons for this. Not only does a significant proportion of the population remain unable to buy sufficient food, but the whole population is vulnerable to becoming malnourished due to exposure to diseases. Poor sanitation and living conditions give rise to diarrhoeal diseases and parasitic infections. 221 Million of India's population are undernourished as compared to Sub-Saharan Africa and China, where the numbers are 203.5 million and 142.1 million respectively.

In addition to limiting development and the capacity to learn, malnutrition costs lives: it accounts for 50% of all childhood deaths in India. The level of childhood malnutrition is the same as that in Ethiopia; 47%. As a result, one in every 3 malnourished children in the world lives in India. Girls are more at risk of malnutrition than boys because of their lower social status; of the 12 million girls born each year, one million will die before their first birthday and three million do not live to see their 15th birthday (Sources: UNICEF, Prahtan Survey of Education 2005).

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