Nutritional Support for Malnourished Children

The support program for malnourished children, which is one of the annual programs of the Jivaka Hospital, was initiated. During the period of one month, volunteers measured the height and weight of 335 children among a total of 394 eligible children from 15 villages, between the ages 0-3.

The degree of the children’s malnutrition was measured based on the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Based on the results, the children received nutritional support anywhere from 1 to 6 times.

Unlike last year, nutritional support was provided only to children this year. Last year, food items such as rice, grains, oil, and vitamins were provided to the families of malnourished children. This year, items such as nutritional powder and oil (used for skin protection and prevention of skin trouble) were provided for the children. Infant milk food and skin oil were provided to children under 9 months.

Among the 335 children who were evaluated, 80 children were determined to be extremely malnourished and underweight, which qualified them to receive nutritional support 6 times. There were 82 children who were eligible to receive it 3 times.