“Can you ask how old they are?” I said to my translator, Dixie.
He asked in Miskitu as I waited. The two young girls were the daughters of the woman whose house we were underneath. Sweating and gulping our now warm bottled water, we were desperately trying to shade ourselves from the hot, midday Nicaraguan sun.
The girls’ mother wasn’t at the house. I’m not sure where she was. Maybe fetching water from the river or food from her crops. We were with Linda learning about the work she was doing to build a well for the homeowner. The girls would later follow us on the short walk to Linda’s house so they could eat lunch. Other than Linda and our #WaterAidNica team, they had no supervision.
The girls were 7 and 4, each one year younger than my own two boys.
“Are you sure?” I asked perplexed. My boys were much bigger than these girls. I almost didn’t believe Dixie.
And then I realized I was seeing the impact of malnutrition with my own eyes.
They seems healthy enough. They smiled and played like little girls play. They hid from us, sneaking peeks every now and then, and dangled their feet above where we were sitting and taking notes.
During my week in Nicaragua, I barely ate a vegetable. My diet consisted mainly of rice, beans, plantains and chicken. I had an occasional piece of avocado and watermelon. One day, I had the opportunity to drink from a coconut freshly cut from a tree. It was not nearly enough nutrients for my body. By the end of the week, I could feel the difference. My stomach felt heavy from all the starch. I was sluggish and craved a big salad.
The people in the rural communities we visited didn’t go to a grocery store each week to shop for food. They lived off the land. While we saw tomatoes, squash and cucumbers growing in Linda’s garden, most weren’t ready to be eaten yet. During the time that the fields are being prepared and new crops are planted and grown, many families don’t bother to light a fire in their kitchen. There simply isn’t food to be cooked.
March is National Nutrition Month and the 1,000 Days Partnership organized an online “march” to raise awareness about the critical role of nutrition in the 1,000 day window from a woman’s pregnancy to her child’s second birthday.
Proper nutrition from pregnancy to age 2 is critical. If a mother lacks nutrients when she is pregnant, so will her baby. During infancy, a mother’s breast milk not only provides nutrition, it also provides immunization against illness and disease. In the first two years of a baby’s life, proper nutrients from a variety of healthy foods ensures healthy growth and brain development.
I wonder what kind of nutrition those two girls were able to have during their first two years of life. I wonder what kind of nutrition their mother was able to receive and provide.
Following is an infographic that explains what causes maternal and child malnutrition. I urge you to visit ThousandDays.org for more information and find out how you can get involved in the fight against malnutrition.
I wrote this post as part of the Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of Mom Bloggers for Social Good members who focus on maternal health, children, hunger, and women and girls. It is part of a 24-hour blog carnival. You can read more newborn health posts on the Global Team of 200 site.
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That really saddened me to read that in the time it took me to read the infographic, 72 children died from malnutrition. 🙁
That stat got me too. So sad.
Alexa, actually took the words right out of my mouth and felt so terrible reading that these young kids were indeed not getting the proper nutrition or foods on a daily basis. And the info-graphic certainly does put it into perspective, as well.
This stuff can be hard to read, but it’s important to know. We need to do more to bring awareness.
This is such an important post for us to read! We have access to any food we want, year round, and it is not that way for many people around the world. If only there was a way to spread the abundance of food we have around! It breaks my heart that every time I visit the pediatrician, I hear about the problem with childhood obesity we have in this country, and then to read your post about malnourished children is heartbreaking. Keep up the good work, Jennifer!
I hear you, Ginny Marie. I always want to just balance it all. I hate that there are kids in my own backyard that don’t have enough food. How do we let this happen?
This post makes me think of this powerful video from World Vision about the long-term effects of malnutrition on children. A great reminder that it’s so much more than a growling stomach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3abZswA5XY
What a powerful video. Thanks for sharing, Katie.
This is truly eye opening. It must have been heart breaking for you to see, Jennifer! Thank you for calling attention to this…sharing!
Thanks for sharing, Michelle! It was really a surprise to me when I realized what I was seeing.
This is so sad to me – especially since there is enough food to feed everyone in the world. More great insights from your trip combined with the message that no one should go hungry – especially children.
It really is sad. Hunger can set back a child before they even get the chance to grow.
I know how it is to be on a trip and to just crave good old fruits and veggies when you get home. And just to go to a store or farmer’s market and buy it.
I do believe there is enough food in this world for everyone, and we can’t seem to make it spread around.
What staggering stats, and your stories of seeing kids your own kids’ ages..
I had a big salad when I got home. I’m still thinking about those kids.
Exactly what Tamara said…so much wasted food here, and so many children dying unnecessarily in the world from lack of it.
When I was volunteering in an afterschool program in Peru, I thought the children looked so much younger than they were. Reading this, I think I understand why.
Our translator pointed it out to me when I didn’t believe how old they were. I was heartbroken when I heard about the months where people barely eat.
Oh my heart… and to think of worse conditions as well. It makes me want to go to my fridge and force myself to look at ALL the goodness we all devour on a daily basis and do SOMETHING about this. I was reading a book on my vacation- oh Jen- you would LOVE IT!
It’s called “7” Am experimental mutiny on excess- by Jen Hatmaker. GET IT. I have been incredibly messed up ever since I read it. Messed up because she reveals and realizes the incessant need out there…and how we are not meeting it. This speaks to me- just like that book.
Sounds like a really great book. Checking it out now! Thanks for the tip.
What a heartbreaking reminder of all the things we take for granted for ourselves and our children.
So true. I think about this kind of stuff when I think I’m having a bad day.
so terrible reading that these young kids were indeed not getting the proper nutrition or foods on a daily basis. What a heartbreaking reminder of all the things we take for granted in the first world. Thanks for sharing this.