Indians spend more money on Diwali than any other holiday. During the festive season, we buy everything from diyas to cars, but the one product that sees more investment than anything else is gold. The belief that gold bestows luck and good fortune are so prevalent that we have a whole day dedicated to shopping for it in different forms. Many of us have spent Dhanteras way too many times in jewellery stores with our parents, while they buy either necklaces or gold biscuits. However, this year its time to invest in something better. This year, we must invest in our own health.
There are many health issues that women face and choose to ignore because they don’t seem big enough at the time. One of the most widely detected health conditions that women in our country are facing is anemia, which is caused by iron deficiency.
Anemia affects 1 out of every 2 women in India and more than 50% of women in urban India are anemic, according to surveys. Given that women living in cities have higher rates of access to healthcare, this number is extremely worrying.
In layman terms, anemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or their oxygen-carrying capacity is insufficient to meet physiologic needs. This may vary by age, sex, altitude, smoking, and pregnancy status. While this sounds simple enough, many of us are unable to pin-point the symptoms because of the lack of knowledge around this.
In order to tackle this lack of knowledge about anemia, DSM (Dutch State Mines), a Dutch multinational firm specializing in nutrition has launched a CSR initiative known as Project Streedhan which is aimed at creating awareness among women in India about better health and well being by investing in iron.
‘Project Streedhan’ is a social awareness campaign that is urging women to pay closer attention to their iron intake. They launched a minute-long digital campaign that features multiple women dressed in festive wear, both traditional and fusion styles, consuming various iron-rich food items including almonds, watermelon, pomegranate, corn and fish.
The powerful imagery is beautifully supplemented by a rustic background score, urging women to invest in nourishing their body with iron-rich food. ‘Loha chakh le’ (taste the iron) is the central theme of the anthem. The music is catchy and manages to hold the attention of the audience, which helps in pushing the message across.
The main objective of this campaign is to help women realize that we need to step up and work towards taking care of our health. We can no longer afford to blame a long day on unexplained fatigue or lack of appetite, we need to wake up and use this festive season to gift ourselves better health and a better life by investing in iron and supporting Project Streedhan!
