Poshan Abhiyaan and fighting malnutrition with Horlicks and Mr Amitabh Bachchan!

Horlicks, the iconic brand from GSK Consumer Healthcare has recently announced the launch of “Horlicks Mission Poshan” with super star Amitabh Bachchan supporting the government’s Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyaan (Nation Nutrition Mission) to fight under nutrition in our country. “Horlicks Mission Poshan will focus on the first 1000 days of a child with the objective of addressing malnutrition, stunting and infant mortality. Amitabh Bachchan will be part of many activities planned all-round the year including a 12-hour live Telethon and awareness camps across schools and villages.”

Amitabh Bachchan who spearheaded the campaign faced hard criticism soon after this despite all good intentions. This is not the first time though that he has faced critiques. Being the greatest star of the Indian film industry, Amitabh Bachchan has been a soft target since forever. We have closely monitored, disproved, condemned and trolled him for everything he does or he does not. After the Bofors scandal the star has wanted to distance himself from all kinds of discourses and controversies. He has tried his best to guard himself and his family from debates but in vain. He has been heavily criticized for his silence over Mumbai flood in 2015. He has been trolled for his poor choice of endorsements. (He has once refrained from endorsing Pepsi after facing scathing criticism). He has been ridiculed for his childish rants over his lost followers in twitter. More recently, he has been criminalized for his silence (and later an irresponsible comment) on the Kathua rape case.

At times, I feel that we are too hard on him. He may be the biggest star but he too has the right to his life, to be silent as and when he decides to especially in this age of post truth polarisation and alternate facts where our existence is too vulnerable too futile. However, this time it is different.

The choice of Mr Amitabh Bachchan to be associated with Mission Poshan is extremely plausible just like many others. The Pulse Polio campaign (2002) endorsed by the star has been a huge hit followed by his support for Swachh Bharat (safe sanitation and anti open defecation - 2016). So, it's no wonder that our government chose him to a part of Poshan Abhiyaan and he is the campaign ambassador of Mission Poshan of Horlicks (May 2018). Mission Poshan is a venture of Horlicks, a pricey malted "health drink" full for unhealthy sugar (carb) with a tagline: "a trusted bottle of Horlicks has been an indispensable part of the Indian household cupboard for the last three generations." 

It's surprising that with this kind of regressive standardization of health science we are "here to fight the malnutrition in our country”! Horlicks is harshly criticized for propagating unsubstantial health claims in commercials. It is harmful with high sugar content and is labeled as empty calorie by the health scientists. Several nutritionists and health campaigners have disapproved of this and voiced their opinion.

“Amitabh Bachchan’s association with Horlicks can be harmful. Sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever. It is a major cause of obesity and there is increasing evidence that added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver,” says Dr. Aseem Malhotra, an internationally known campaigner for healthy foods.

"Promotion of Horlicks stating that it helps kids in gaining height, weight, brain development and the healthy immune system is inappropriate as these claims are scientifically unsubstantiated,” said Dr J.P. Dadhich, a paediatrician in Delhi.

Denunciation is but the hind side of super stardom and Amitabh Bachchan has relentlessly swerved it. But this time it is a different battle altogether. It's the future of our children - the health of the millennial we are dealing here. Corroborating with Horlicks, Poshan Abhiyaan has actively defied science of food and this is when the world is restructuring the health science and India has dissociated  itself from the campaign objective. A whole lot thing is happening all over the world everyday and the health advocates are coming up with new purpose and new ways to healthy living. It's very important that we remain well informed about pro health choices for the people of India will neither forgive its government nor Mr Amitabh Bachchan for any negligent and disagreeable choice concerning the health of our children ever.

Photo copyright: Flickr