Kana is a playful one-year-old girl from the Philippines. She lives with her parents and three siblings in a bamboo and concrete house. Her mother is a housewife, and her father is a carpenter. His income is not enough to provide a well-balanced diet.
Kana is underweight and her abdomen is bloated. She was diagnosed by our medical partner, International Care Ministries (ICM), as severely acutely malnourished. One out of five children under five 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. Malnutrition can lead to a variety of other complications, such as attention deficit disorder, cardiac issues, and stunted growth.
Fortunately, Kana began ICM’s malnutrition treatment program on October 17, 2016.
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. The total cost of the treatment and support is $268, and Kana’s family needs financial assistance.
Following her treatment, Kana’s bloated abdomen will recede and her nutrition will improve. Her family will have learned how to provide a nutritionally balanced diet.
