My latest in @thelens_in where I draw attention to the huge data gaps which provide the backdrop for the ongoing spat over eggs in midday meals. The public discourse is also taking place with the public being not in the loop about the state of anaemia in this age-group. ————-   On the surface, the controversy is about eggs versus paneer, soybean, and pulses. But it is a layered story dripping with irony. The 6–14 age group forms the core of India’s Midday Meal Scheme (MDM), now known as PM Poshan, which reaches millions of schoolchildren during a vital phase of physical growth, brain development, and learning. This intense debate over eggs versus vegetarian food,however, is unfolding with almost no recent official data on the nutritional status of 6–14-year-olds in the country.   While there is abundant academic literature showing that eggs are an excellent and cheap source of high-quality protein, vitamin B12, and bioavailable iron — nutrients many Indian schoolchildren lack — there is no recent national survey or randomised trial demonstrating that vegetarian substitutes for eggs produce better outcomes. The last comprehensive dataset (CNNS 2016–18) is almost a decade-old. The  Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) was a landmark study because it explicitly mapped school-age children (5–9 years) and early adolescents (10–14 years). The survey pointed to widespread anaemia among Indian children and adolescents. However, that survey was conducted between 2016 and 2018. The National Family Health Survey, including the latest ( NFHS 6) does not cover the nutrition status of India’s 6–14 year olds. While multicentric studies (2019–2023) across ten cities confirm widespread deficiencies in iron, vitamin B12, calcium, and vitamin D, they are urban-only and not nationally representative.  This means claims that vegetarian-only meals are superior remain ideological rather than scientific, leaving a major evidence gap in policy making. thelens.in/why-this-injustic…