Reducing the Effects of Nutritional Anemia in Malnourished Children

Malnutrition starts affecting the mental and physical development of a child right from the time it begins to grow in its mother’s womb. If the mother is malnourished, it’s very likely that the child is going to be unhealthy at the time of birth. Poor health conditions and bad access to nutritional diets especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities , catastrophically affects the health of both mother and child. Nutritional anemia is one such cause that drops blood haemoglobin to an abnormally low level due to a deficiency in food nutrients .

To change this dire situation of malnutrition among children is the need of the hour. To tackle this problem, ‘Magu Nagu’, a chronic malnutrition-free program of the Hubli Sandbox is implemented as a pilot in Dharwad district in North Karnataka, as an attempt to come up with a demonstrated  model to improve the health of over 1500 severely malnourished children in the project area.

Sangeetha Kale was one such anemic patient who could barely move and was unable to crawl. After a few months, she was diagnosed with a congenital heart problem. There was an urgent need for surgery to correct the condition. Her family lived on a meager income, and Sangeetha’s parents struggled to muster INR 2 lakh for her heart surgery. However, their financial constraints and ignorance about balanced food and hygiene did not allow them to provide adequate care for the baby. Says an elated  Nagamma, “I am happy to see my daughter as a healthy bubbly child in our locality. I had lost hope when she used to frequently fall ill and we had to admit her in the hospital for weeks. I am a relieved mother now.

The Sandbox team intervened to educate the parents about malnutrition and the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ in caring for the child. Sangeetha was given nutritional supplements and the Sandbox team regularly visited the child to assess her health. The efforts yielded results and now, she is a playful child like any other with her weight improving from 6.30 kg to 8.80 kg.

Like Sangeetha, Sandbox has helped many malnourished kids in the Sandbox region to give them a healthy tomorrow.