Divya Sathyaraj is an Indian

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and Human nutrition, nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disci ...

. She is the daughter of actor

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), known professionally as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, film producer, film director and a media personality who appears predominantly in Tamil films. He also appears in works in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam ...

and the sister of

Sibi Sathyaraj Sibi Sathyaraj (also credited as Sibiraj) is an Indian actor working in the Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He is the son of actor Sathyaraj. Education Sibi did his schooling in Sherwood Hall Senior Secondary School and Don Bosco Matriculat ...

. Divya is the goodwill ambassador of The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF), an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

implementing the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

’s

Midday Meal Scheme The Mid Day Meal Scheme, officially PM-POSHAN, is a mandatory free school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in g ...

for school children. She has also started a movement in 2020, ''Mahilmadhi Iyakkam'', an initiative to provide healthy and nutritious meals to the

malnourished Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

and

under-privileged Social privilege is an advantage or entitlement that benefits individuals belonging to certain groups, often to the detriment of others. Privileged groups can be advantaged based on social class, wealth, education, caste, age, height, skin color, ...

communities.

Personal life

Divya is the daughter of actor

and Maheshwari. Divya's brother is an actor

Sibi Sibi (; ;) is a city situated in the Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan Subdivisions of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. The city serves as the administrative headquarters of the Sibi District, district and Sibi Tehsil, tehsil of the same name ...

. Unlike her father and her brother, Divya abstained from acting, instead pursuing a career in nutrition. Originally a vegetarian, she became a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

in 2016.

Career

Divya graduated with a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

in Nutrition from the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

. She conducts

workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

on health-related issues,

child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

and self-defence for women, and

counseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of c ...

sessions for Sri Lankan refugees. She had written a letter to the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

, pointing out the malpractices and negligence in medical field and questioning the

NEET A NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", is a person who is Unemployment, unemployed and not receiving an education or Vocational education, vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in ...

exams. She is the goodwill ambassador of

Akshaya Patra Foundation The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an independent charitable trust registered under the Indian Trusts Act 1882 (Reg. No. 154). Headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, the NGO serves as the implementing partner of the Government of India’s flagship ...

, the world's largest midday meal programme. She has also partnered with World Vision India, where she has assumed responsibility for four young girls. Divya started a movement in 2020, ''Mahilmadhi Iyakkam''. About the movement she says, "The purpose of the movement is to identify areas in the city where access to nutritious food and awareness about its benefits are lacking. Once the areas are identified and the community members are assessed, those in the neighbourhood who are in need, will be provided hygienic and healthy food, free of cost, based on the deficiencies." In 2019, Divya announced she would get into

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

in 2021.

Awards

In 2019, Divya received the Women Achiever Award for excellence in community service from Raindrops, a youth-based social organisation spreading social awareness through media and entertainment. In 2020, she was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

by th
International Tamil University, USA
in recognition for her contributions in the field of Nutritional therapy.

Political career

Divya joined

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

(DMK) on 19 December in the presence of Chief Minister

M. K. Stalin Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin (born 1 March 1953) is an Indian politician and former actor serving as the 8th and current List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, chief minister of Tamil Nadu since 2021. He is the third son of the former Chief Min ...

at the party headquarters Anna Arivalayam in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sathyaraj, Divya Indian nutritionists Living people People from Tamil Nadu Indian women