Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a member of the Rajya Sabha, tweeted on 13 June 2017:
Yechury’s tweet was in response to the furore over recommendations for pregnant women made by the ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH).
We fact-checked Yechury’s claim and found that more than 50% of pregnant women in India aged 15-49 years are anemic.
This is according to data from the National Family Health Survey 2015-16, a drop from 58% in 2005-06.
A booklet titled Mother and Child Care, issued by the AYUSH Ministry, had made several objectionable recommendations, Hindustan Times reported on 14 June 2017.
“Don’t eat meat, say no to sex after conception, avoid bad company, have spiritual thoughts and hang some good and beautiful pictures in your room to have a healthy baby,” the booklet said.
The booklet was compiled by the government-funded Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) under the AYUSH ministry, formed in 2014 to promote Indian traditional healing practices. The news was picked up by other media outlets as well.
“The booklet puts forward the “prescription” that “pregnant women in India” should “say no to sex after conception,” the AYUSH ministry clarified its position in response to the outrage.
“This is far from the truth. In fact, the words “no sex” do not feature at all in the booklet,” according to this press release issued by the ministry on 14 June 2017.
“The suggestion on page 14 of the booklet regarding avoiding certain types of food like tea, coffee, white flour products, fried and oily items and non-veg during pregnancy is seen to have received selective attention,” the ministry statement said.
The suggestion that non-vegetarian food may be avoided (as yoga & naturopathy doesn’t advocate non-vegetarian food in its practice) has been singled out for highlighting in some reports, omitting the mention of white-flour products, fried and oily items.
“I would not support the advice given to pregnant women to avoid meat,” Kamini Rao, chairperson of The International Institute For Training and Research in Reproductive Health and medical director of Bengaluru-based Milann – Centre for Reproductive Medicine, told HuffPostIndia, in response to the ministry’s directive.
“Meat and eggs are a rich source of iron and protein, particularly in a protein-deficient population like ours,” Rao said.
(This article was originally published on IndiaSpend. Read the original article here.)
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