Meet Nallely, a 10-month-old girl from Guatemala. Nallely has two older siblings and lives with her parents in a humble adobe house with a tin roof. She loves to listen to music and dance. Nallely’s mother cooks, manages the kids, and attends to the house.
Nallely is below the average height and the average weight for her age due to acute malnutrition. She currently is not consuming enough calories and enough quality foods. As a result her physical growth is stunted, and we worry her mental growth will be stunted as well.
As a result of food insecurity and marginalization, indigenous Guatemalan villages have the highest rates of stunting in the world. In addition to growth stunting, malnutrition can lead to lower IQ, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
$512 will fund the treatment Nallely needs to address her nutritional deficit and improve her low energy and subsequent limited mental potential. This involves micronutrient and food supplementation, deworming medication to rid Nallely of a parasitic infection, and nutrition education for her parents. With these combined efforts, Nallely will recoup her weight and height and strengthen her immune system, laying the foundation for a healthier future.