Biboy is a one-year-old boy from the Philippines who loves to play with toy trucks. He lives with his parents in a house made of light materials. They have no electricity, and their source of water is a deep well owned by the neighborhood. His father works as a construction worker.
Biboy is a thin child who has been diagnosed with malnutrition. He began $184 malnutrition treatment on October 18, 2016.
Biboy is being treated by International Care Ministries (ICM), a Watsi medical partner. One out of five children under 5 in ICM communities is either severely or moderately acutely malnourished. Worldwide, poor nutrition is associated with nearly half of all deaths in young children. In remote communities and urban slums of the Philippines, the lack of clean water and unclean environments add risk to potentially fatal childhood diseases.
ICM’s Home-Based Feeding program provides nutrient-enriched food packs to ensure malnourished children get additional food to regain normal weight and achieve optimum physical and mental development. After identifying a child as malnourished, staff and community volunteers make weekly visits to monitor this child’s progress. To help sustain the health of the child, ICM’s professional staff educate the mother, guardian, or other family members about proper nutrition, sanitation, hygiene, and organic vegetable gardening.
