Princess Angel, a five-year-old girl, lives with her parents in a small house made with wood in the Philippines. Her father is a laborer therefore income is very unstable. Because her mother is part of ICM’s Transform program, Princess Angel was found to be severely malnourished at one of the health screening sessions. She is now part of the Home-Based Feeding program, on her road to recovery.
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 the additional food to regain normal weight, and achieve optimum physical and mental development. After identifying a child being 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.
“I hope that she will recover from malnutrition,” said Princess Angel’s mother.