17.01.2011: Bridging the gap: child health and nutrition
Some of our most poignant stories have focused on children affected by TB, leprosy and malaria in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. Caught in a cycle of poverty, these children are vulnerable and malnourished.
Poor nutrition lowers the immune system and underweight children with anaemia, iodine and vitamin A deficiencies are susceptible to infectious diseases. It is hard for a stunted and wasted child to reach their physical and mental potential and do well at school.
Recent news articles have highlighted the effect of malnutrition on children in India. The statistics are surprising and shocking. According to UNICEF, more than one-third of the world’s 150 million malnourished under-fives live in India.
The majority of India’s poor are daily wage earners who struggle to buy food, especially now that global food prices have risen. It is hard for them to pay for doctors when children fall ill. Lack of clean water and unhygienic living conditions add to the cycle of poverty and disease.
Anaemia and malnourishment are extremely common in pregnant women and it is estimated that 30 per cent of Indian children are underweight at birth.
Many women choose infant formula milk over breastfeeding in the first six months and have inadequate knowledge about making up feeds safely. They don’t have the time to feed their babies ‘little and often’ when they are working in the fields.
Two government schemes to reduce malnutrition have barely dented the problem.
The Public Distribution System provides subsidised food and a midday meal, and the Integrated Childhood Development Service (ICDS) provides a centre with a teacher and an assistant to provide nutritional care to pregnant women and children up to age six.
These centres tend to focus on older children, which can mean the under-twos miss out at a time when most growth retardation happens. The ICDS is complicated and works better in some places than others; there are funding gaps and inefficiencies within the system.
In co-ordination with the ICDS, LEPRA’s CHAHA project is ensuring that 206 children age six and under, and from families affected by HIV/AIDS receive supplementary nutrition.
LEPRA Health in Action gives health talks on nutrition to people with HIV and TB, and they learn how diet can boost their immune systems and help them tolerate medication.
Through advocacy we help people to access benefits and alleviate their poverty. LEPRA teaches women, the health keepers, about the link between diet and health. Empowering women and helping them with livelihoods builds a healthier future for their children.
Posted by nicolettedawson 10:54 17.01.2011
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