Click and Check: AI machine starts to ensure safe, nutritious food in Maharashtra tribal school – WATCH

New Delhi: An artificial-intelligence based machine has been installed by the authorities at Todasa Ashram School in Etapalli, Maharashtra to improve the nutrition level of tribal children of Gadchiroli. The machine takes a picture of the student with a plate of food and within a few seconds, without any human intervention, identifies whether the food is of good quality or not.

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The initiative was taken by the administration under Project Bhamragarh and includes eight government schools. According to a UNICEF India report, about 40 percent of tribal children under the age of five in India are stunted, and 16 percent of them are severely stunted. Malnutrition levels are higher among tribal children as compared to children belonging to socio-economically advanced classes.

There are eight government schools under the Bhamragarh project. When I used to come to this ashram school for girls, I used to feel that they were nutritionally deficient. When we did a preliminary BMI analysis, we found that 61 of the 222 girls were undernourished. Three meals a day are provided here – breakfast, lunch and dinner. The quantity of food is up to the mark, and we also follow the menu. Hence, we wanted to find out the reason,” said Shubham Gupta, assistant collector of Etapalli and project director of the Integrated Tribal Development Project.

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Shubham Gupta, assistant collector, came in contact with an NGO, which connected him with a startup. Finally, they deployed a machine designed by that startup.

“Through this machine, we have tried to improve not only the quantity but also the quality of food. The data collected here can be viewed by the headmaster and me. We have tried it in one of the 8 ashram schools so far Have installed it. The results are very positive. We installed it in September 2022. Since then the quality of food has improved and the BMI of the children has also improved.”

AI and personalized nutrition

AI can be used to analyze a person’s genetic makeup, lifestyle factors and health data to provide personalized nutrition recommendations. It can help individuals make informed decisions about what to eat and how to live a healthy lifestyle.