Over 100 students ill after consuming iron supplements

At least 113 students of a school in Odisha's Puri district fell ill on Tuesday after consuming iron and folic acid supplements on empty stomachs, an official said.

The students of the Upper Grade Middle English (UGME) School at Gopinathpur were provided the supplements as part of a government initiative to arrest anaemia instances among the young population. The children are in the age group of five and 13 years.

Although the children were supposed to consume the tablets after their mid-day meal, they took those on empty stomachs, district collector N.K. Nayak told IANS.

As a result, they developed vomiting tendencies and felt dizzy. The schoolchildren were immediately taken to the Puri district headquarter hospital where they received treatment.

'Most of them have been discharged after treatment. Only four-five children have been kept at the hospital for further observation,' Nayak said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has ordered the local administration to investigate the incident and submit a report to the government at the earliest.

The government's Iron and folic acid supplementation was launched with much fanfare and full page newspaper ads, but it did not show the results as instead of solving the problem of malnutrition, the plan backfired with children falling ill after taking the supplements. The programme has many flaws like children without iron deficiency are also given the tablets leading to adverse effects. Also, it is often administered to children on empty stomachs which may lead to nausea and vomitting. We interviewed Dr. A.K. Susheela, a former AIIMS anatomy professor about the program.

With inputs from IANS