The problem of persistent hunger and severe malnutrition among children has been documented and highlighted for several decades. The situation was so alarming that the Government of India introduced the Integrated Child Development Programme in 1975 to achieve three inter-related objectives, namely:

Stepping out of its cozy family environment to establish the first contact with the outside world is an event of seminal importance in the childs’ life. This is the time when the most permanent and lasting images are carved in her impressionable mind. The experiences that children have during the first few years form the basis of all future interaction and lay the roots for future social, language and intellectual development.