“My baby is 4 years old but looks like only 2 years old”
“My baby is not at all active, is generally tired & doesn’t eat well”
And many more such issues related to infant & toddler’s health were regularly raised by mothers during our field interactions.
To address the above & many more concerns raised on ground by lactating mothers, we started this program. The focus of this program is nutrition (from malnutrition perspective) status of children below 2 years of age. Our first stage of intervention involves detecting
if the child in question is malnourished or severely acute malnourished (SAM) using growth charts, weight & Mid Upper Arm Circumference tape (UNICEF recommended). The 2nd stage involves arranging rehabilitation of SAM children at nearest Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers (NRCs) with which we have collaborated. This stage is generally the most difficult as it is really difficult to counsel families to send their SAM children to NRC for period of 21 days for rehabilitation. Third stage is follow-up and regular counseling at various aggregation events to avoid relapses.
Under this program, we also provide regular telephonic counseling (apart from on-field counseling) and guidance to mothers on specific immunization interventions.