Impact Story of Giftmilk programme
In Latehar district of Jharkhand, an impact study was conducted by the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi. The study was conducted with the aim of understanding and establishing the need, impact and continuance of implementing the Giftmilk programme.
The study was planned in the following phases:
- Base line assessment
- Interventional phase (milk distribution)
- Impact Study 1 (after 1 year of Intervention)
- Impact Study 2 (after 2 years of Intervention)
The findings of the study clearly established the positive impact of the Giftmilk programme
After an year of intervention
(i) There was a marked impact of ‘Giftmilk’ milk over the school attendance, stunting levels and BMI levles of the school children
Apart,
(i) There were lesser number of children with specific body complaints in the intervention group (5.4%) as compared to the control group (13.1%)
(ii) In cognitive domain, 24.1% children in the intervention group had normal to superior IQ than 16.5% in the control group
(iii) Serum vitamin B12 and calcium levels were significantly raised in the intervention schools
(iv) The number of anaemic children decreased after the regular consumption of milk
After 2 years of intervention
There was a progressive decrease in absenteeism in intervention schools and as most of other studies state there was a marked improvement in number of stunted children
Recommendation
The study recommended to continue the programme for minimum of three years for sustained benefit of milk consumption.
