Measurement of arm perimeter to check the malnourishment level
Goals:
1 – Treatment of under 5 years-old children affected by acute undernourishment in 6 Municipalities of the Chimaltenango Department;
2 – Sustainable improvement of the childish nutritional conditions in the rural indigenous communities of Maya Cakchiquel, in the plateau of Guatemala;
3 – Training of the medical and paramedical local staff;
4 – Construction of the Center for the Nutritional Recovery of Tecpan Guatemala.
Activities:
- extension of the Tepcan Hospital with the construction of a National Nutritional Recovery Center (crn);
- support to the Food and Nutritional Safety Program for the standardization of anthropometric measures statement and for an appropriate vocational training of the Ministry of Public Health medical and paramedical staff of the 16 districts of Chimaltenango Department on outpatients treatment protocol for moderate and acute malnutrition cases;
- identification of childhood acute malnutrition cases in the targeted Municipalities;
- treatment and monitoring of under 5 years-old children identified as acute malnutrition cases;
- personalized vocational training on basic themes such as nutrition, personal and domestic hygiene to the mothers of children identified as acute malnutrition cases;
- delivery of 101 filters for the purification of drinking water;
- theoretical and practical nutritional training (elaboration of balanced nutritional diets) in the communities with mothers of the children identified as acute malnutrition cases;
- implementation of domestic vegetable gardens with 5 different varieties of vegetables and 2 of leguminous plants for mothers with undernourished children;
- support to the strengthening of micro-economy for families with acute malnutrition cases through the implementation of personalized micro-projects adapted to the beneficiaries individual capacities;
- improvement of the corn and beans production in the beneficiary communities and installation of storage unity to avoid the post harvesting losses due to climate factors.
Results:
- completed the construction of the National Center for Nutritional Recovery Tecpan (18 places and launching of operational activities which by the local staff);
- 4.853 under 5 years-old children have been examined (perimeter of the arm), and 36 cases of moderate or acute undernourishment have been treated;
- 226 monitoring visits to undernourished children at home or in the crn;
- delivery of 101 filters for the installation of drinking water to 101 families with acute undernourished children;
- 900 vegetable gardens have been installed to the families of the community;
- 36 micro-projects have been implemented with the mothers of undernourished children (aviculture and traditional production).
