By Shalini Sahai | Project Leader
The NIPP project was started last year with a focus on the most vulnerable children in the basti. Children below the age of 5 yrs who were severely malnourished & had failed to gain weight with routine interventions were identified by the health promoters. These children were then given special attention with nutritional supplements, parental education and regular follow ups. However, it was found that despite these interentions, a significant number of the children were not gaining weight.
Some of these were then advsied to go to the local health clinic to identify if they had a health related issue causing the lack of adequate weight gain. A common factor soon emerged. A lot of these children were found to have iron deficiency anemia.
It's well known that when children become anemic, they lose their appetite and often develop pica or the desire to eat substances other than food like ice, dirt etc. A combination of a diet that's nutritionally poor to begin with, coupled with lack of knowledge of iron rich foods is a common reason to develop iron deficiency anemia. Once children develop anemia, the only way to correct it is by giving iron supplements.
Iron supplements are expensive. A bottle of iron with 30 days supply costs a little over $1. A majority of these children need the supplements for at least 6 months to 1 yr. For families this added cost has become a roadblock to see an improvement in the health of their children.
Our aim is to raise enough funds to supply iron supplements for these children for the next 1 year and as we continue to follow these children, we will send regular updates about their progress.
We value your invlovement with our project and hope for your continued support!
With Gratitude,
Shalini
Links:
By Dr Ritesh Singha | Health Officer
By Marilyn Smith and Shalini Sahai | Project Leaders
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