Plan International Supports Healthy Minds and Bodies for Mothers and Children in Sri Lanka

Plan International is fighting malnutrition and supporting health and well-being in Sri Lanka.

 

Mothers in Sri Lanka who said they were worried about child malnutrition are learning new ways to improve their lives and health, as well as those of their children.

Plan is working with the Foundation for Health Promotion and Rajarata University to train local health officials on how to best work with villagers to create an environment where they feel comfortable raising concerns and coming up with their own solutions.

Læs mere her!

Helping you understand hunger and malnutrition

Hunger pangs. We’ve all been there, and it’s not fun! But did you know hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined? Yup, it’s the number one health risk in the world, and 842 million people around the world do not have enough to eat. 98% - or 827 million people - live in developing countries.

Læs mere her!

Health: Preventable childhood illnesses

Our community-level health programmes include immunisation, child nutrition and hygiene promotion. We work to prevent and combat preventable childhood illnesses such as malaria, diarrhoea and malnutrition.

Maternal health is another key area of our work, particularly pre- and postnatal care and birth attendance.

Malnutrition in Guatemala

A beautiful country known for its Mayan pyramids and rich coffee, Guatemala also has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world. Nearly half of all children under five are affected, and that number increases in the rural areas where Plan works, especially among girls, who are three times as likely as their brothers to be malnourished.

Often, it isn’t that children don’t get enough to eat, it’s that they don’t get the right foods with micronutrients, like iron and vitamin A. For mothers who are poor and living in remote areas, providing a nutritious, varied diet is a daily challenge. And without an education and frequently malnourished themselves, many women simply don’t know how to avoid malnutrition in their children.

Læs mere her!

Collective feeding makes children healthier in Sri Lanka

An estimated 7,600,000 children under the age of 5 die every year, more than 70% of them in Africa and Southeast Asia. About 2/3 of these deaths are caused by preventable diseases, while more than 1/3 of all child deaths are linked to malnutrition.

For 75 years, Plan has been working in remote, impoverished parts of the world to teach parents better practices to keep their children healthy, happy and alive.

In Kudugama village of Sri Lanka’s North Central province, 47% of children under the age of 5 were underweight. Because villagers were from a lower caste, they received lower quality health services than neighboring villages and dared not complain to officials to improve the situation.

Læs mere om forandringerne i Kudugama her!