Jonatan is suffering from chronic malnutrition—a condition caused by the fact that his parents have had trouble affording foods rich in calories, protein, and nutrients. This has made his growth stunted—he is only the size of a healthy 9-month-old despite being 19 months old, and is behind in his motor and cognitive development. To make sure he has healthy development and growth during this delicate time, he needs treatment to help him overcome malnutrition.
Jonatan lives with his mother and older sister in a one-room adobe house with a tin roof. His mother says that he is always playing with his toy car! Even though Jonatan’s favorite food is chicken, his mother often can’t afford to give him nutritious foods like that—his mother is raising him alone and works as a tailor, making only a couple dollars per day, which has to support the whole family.
Jonatan was enrolled on October 11 to a program where he will be provided with growth monitoring, micronutrient and food supplementation, and deworming medication will help Jonatan recover from malnutrition. This will save his life now and putting him on track to live a better life in the future. He will gain weight and grow taller to catch up with other children his age. His immune system will grow stronger with the increased caloric intake. This will further increase his appetite and help him use the extra calories to develop mentally instead of those calories being wasted on getting over frequent illnesses. His mother will receive the support she need to feel empowered to give Jonatan the diet he needs to grow and develop healthily, even with limited resources. Intervention now will prevent the future devastating effects of malnutrition, and give Jonatan the chance to live a healthy and productive life, finish school, get a good job, and escape the cycle of malnutrition and poverty that made him sick in the first place.
His mother said, “I am very motivated and I will do my part so that I can see my son healthy. I dream that one day in the future he will be a doctor.”