Correct Answer: A. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
Rickets is a metabolic bone disease caused by vitamin D deficiency, calcium malabsorption, or phosphate depletion, leading to defective mineralization of the growth plate. In India, nutritional rickets (vitamin D deficiency rickets) is endemic, particularly in children from low-income groups with poor dietary intake and limited sun exposure. The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is the flagship government program specifically designed to address nutritional deficiencies in children aged 0–6 years and pregnant/lactating women. ICDS provides supplementary nutrition, health checkups, immunization, and health education at Anganwadi centers across India. It targets micronutrient deficiencies including vitamin D, calcium, and iron through fortified food distribution and direct supplementation. The program is run under the Ministry of Women and Child Development and is the primary vehicle for nutritional surveillance and intervention in vulnerable populations. Rickets screening and management fall squarely within ICDS's mandate, making it the correct answer for a government program addressing this specific deficiency.
Why the other options are wrong
B. Mid-Day Meal Scheme — While the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (now PM POSHAN) provides meals to school-age children (6–14 years) and improves overall caloric and protein intake, it is not specifically designed to address micronutrient deficiencies like vitamin D. Rickets typically presents in children under 5 years, who are not yet in school and thus outside the Mid-Day Meal Scheme's primary target group. The scheme's focus is on reducing hunger and improving school attendance, not targeted micronutrient supplementation. C. Anemia Mukt Bharat — Anemia Mukt Bharat is a specific government initiative launched to address iron-deficiency anemia in women, adolescents, and children. Although it includes iron supplementation and fortification programs, it does not specifically target vitamin D or calcium deficiency. Rickets is a manifestation of vitamin D/calcium deficiency, not iron deficiency, so this program is not the primary vehicle for rickets prevention or management. D. National Nutritional Deficiency Control Programme — This is a generic or non-existent formal program name in India's public health framework. While India has various nutrition programs, there is no standalone 'National Nutritional Deficiency Control Programme' as an official government initiative. ICDS remains the overarching, well-established program under which all nutritional deficiency control activities, including rickets prevention, are coordinated at the grassroots level.
High-Yield Facts
- ICDS targets children aged 0–6 years and pregnant/lactating women through Anganwadi centers for nutritional surveillance and supplementation.
- Nutritional rickets (vitamin D deficiency rickets) is endemic in India, particularly in low-income urban and rural populations with limited sun exposure.
- ICDS provides supplementary nutrition, fortified food, vitamin D/calcium supplementation, and health checkups—the complete package for rickets prevention.
- Mid-Day Meal Scheme (PM POSHAN) covers school-age children (6–14 years) and does not address the under-5 age group where rickets typically manifests.
- Anemia Mukt Bharat is iron-deficiency focused; rickets is a vitamin D/calcium deficiency disease, not an iron deficiency disease.
Mnemonics
ICDS = Infant & Child Development Services ICDS is the 0–6 year program; Mid-Day Meal is the 6–14 year program. Rickets presents in young children → ICDS. Rickets = Vitamin D → ICDS (not Anemia Mukt) Rickets is a mineral/vitamin D disease, not iron deficiency. Anemia Mukt = iron only. ICDS = all micronutrients.
NBE Trap
NBE pairs rickets (a vitamin D/calcium deficiency disease) with the Mid-Day Meal Scheme to trap students who conflate 'any nutrition program' with 'the right nutrition program for this age group.' The Mid-Day Meal does not cover children under 5, where rickets is most common.
Clinical Pearl
In Indian outpatient clinics, a child presenting with rickets (bowing of legs, frontal bossing, delayed fontanelle closure) should prompt screening for vitamin D deficiency and referral to the nearest Anganwadi center for supplementary nutrition and fortified food distribution—ICDS is the bridge between clinical diagnosis and community-level prevention.
_Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine (Ch. Nutrition & ICDS); Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (Ch. Rickets & Metabolic Bone Disease)_