Meet Josmi, a 13-month-old baby boy from Guatemala. Josmi lives with his two older siblings and his parents in a one-room adobe house with a tin roof in a rural mountainous community in Guatemala. They are indigenous Maya and speak a language called Quiche. They have a small plot of land where they cultivate corn which they use to make into tortillas, which is often the only food they can afford to give Josmi. Fruit and eggs are out of their reach, making it impossible for Josmi to get better without treatment.
Josmi is acutely malnourished. He is far below the normal size for his age, threatening his mental and physical development. His mother has noticed that he is not growing as well as her other kids did and is growing worried. His immune system has also grown weak due to the lack of protein, calories, and nutrients in his diet, making him get sick often. In the past two weeks alone, he has had diarrhea and a fever, sicknesses that can be life-threatening for malnourished children like Josmi. If he does not receive treatment, he could face long-term consequences such as behavioral problems, low IQ, increased risk of chronic diseases, and low earning potential.
Growth monitoring, micronutrients and food supplementation will help Josmi recover from malnutrition–saving 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, preventing him from having any more life-threatening situations with diarrhea and fevers. 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 parents will receive the support they need to feel empowered to give Josmi the diet he needs to grow and develop healthily. Intervention now will prevent the future devastating effects of malnutrition, and give Jose 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.
“I would like for him to grow and be able to study and have a profession that he really enjoys,” Josmi’s mother shared.
