District principal and sessions judge K. Ninge Gowda has said that as health of the mother plays a critical role in determining the health of the newborn, utmost care should be given to her to prevent malnourishment among infants. He was speaking after launching the Belgaum divisional-level multimedia campaign to create awareness on malnourishment in 140 villages of Basavanabagewadi taluk of the district, here on Thursday. The campaign has been taken up by the Information Department and the Legal Services Authority. He said that poor health of mothers was one of the reasons for the birth of undernourished children. “It is vital to ensure that women are given nutritious food, especially during pregnancy,” he said. He also spoke on the importance of breastfeeding. Mr. Gowda said malnourishment among children could also be due to lack of knowledge among women on when and what to feed the children. “Do not think that only children of poor people are malnourished,” he said. Delivering a lecture, paediatrician and lecturer at Al-Ameen Medical College Ravi Nagnur underlined the importance of breastfeeding. He spoke about misconceptions on malnourishment and symptoms that could help identify malnourished children. Bijapur Zilla Panchayat Deputy Secretary Amaresh Nayak said the government’s initiative to encourage institutional deliveries had helped doctors to educate women on malnourishment. He said the Women and Child Welfare Department had identified nearly 3,500 malnourished children in the district and they were being provided supplementary food such as eggs and milk. District Health and Family Welfare Officer Vishwanath Galagali, Deputy Director of Public Instruction B.N. Hakeem, Deputy Director of Women and Child Welfare Department Vasantaprema and Assistant Director of the Information Department R. Ranganath was present.