Bhubaneswar, Apr 8: The Odisha government has launched a pioneering pilot program to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) tool for monitoring children's growth, officials announced.
A five-day training and workshop on "AI for Growth Monitoring: Development of an AI Tool for Child Anthropometry" was inaugurated in Bhubaneswar on Monday. This initiative positions Odisha as the first state in India to pilot such a study.
The event was launched by Shubha Sarma, Principal Secretary of Odisha’s Women & Child Development Department. During the inauguration, a training module was also introduced to guide the field team in the data collection process essential for developing the AI tool.
The project is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MoWCD), Wadhwani AI, ICMR-RMRC Bhubaneswar, and Poshan Abhiyaan, an official release noted.
The primary goal of the initiative is to create an AI-based solution to simplify and improve the accuracy of child anthropometric measurements conducted by anganwadi workers. The AI tool will automate the recording of crucial child growth data, such as weight, height, head circumference, and chest circumference, using short videos captured on basic smartphones operated by anganwadi workers.
This approach aims to enhance the feasibility and precision of anthropometric assessments, helping in the early identification of malnutrition in children.
Following the training, field investigators will embark on a three-to-four-month data collection phase across the districts of Balasore, Cuttack, Ganjam, Jajpur, Keonjhar, and Mayurbhanj for the pilot project.
