Fiona makes progress in the battle against malnutrition

Rebecca Daniel dropped out of primary school after getting pregnant with her first child. As a single mother with no reliable source of income, taking care of her one-year-old Fiona hasn't been easy.

"On 6th January 2024, I noticed my daughter was swelling on different parts of her body, but I didn't think much of it until she was identified as malnourished during the growth monitoring sessions at Nyamithuthu health centre," Rebecca says." I recall her not being able to interact or eat properly."

Her weight at the time was 5.5 kg, and her mother often only fed her porridge with sugar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Fiona only started receiving ready-to-use therapeutic food on 26th January.

"I feel so happy that she's now getting better, gaining weight, and can play with her peers," says 18 year-old Rebecca. 

Maxwell Banda, a health surveillance assistant from Nyamithuthu health centre emphasizes that children get better when their parents adhere to the child's treatment.

"We advise the parents that RUTF is medicine, and they should give their children their dosage accordingly," he says. "We're happy Fiona is slowly getting better."

Within a month after being administered RUTF, Fiona's middle upper circumference has increased from 10.0 cm to 11.0 cm. Her weight is now six kg, and she continues to receive RUTF and other medical supplies at Nyamithuthu health centre.

In Malawi, over three million people are experiencing food high food insecurity, and over 63,000 children aged between six to 59 months are at risk of severe acute malnutrition. Children with SAM are severely vulnerable to developmental delays, disease, and death. 

UNICEF, with funding from the Government of Japan, supported the Ministry of Health with the procurement and distribution of 1,566 boxes of Ready Therapeutic Food (RUTF), which resulted in providing lifesaving treatment for children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). UNICEF also facilitated Community-led Complementary Feeding and Learning Sessions (CCFLS), a peer-to-peer learning approach to prevent undernutrition among children aged 6-23 months.

"CCFLS is a 12-day session during which caregivers of children under two years, pregnant and lactating women learn various skills in food preparation, processing, and child feeding practices. In Nsanje, UNICEF has introduced an innovative complementary feeding toolkit, composed of a demarcated feeding bowl, slotted spoon, and pictorial counseling cards, that guides the dietary diversity, frequency, quantity, and consistency of the porridge fed to the child," says UNICEF Malawi Nutrition Officer Yurika Ueda.

After receiving advice from the HSA, Rebecca tries to add more dietary diversity to her child's meals by adding crushed groundnuts to her child's porridge and giving her fruits. She also practices handwashing with soap regularly with herself and with her child.

"I want Fiona just to be healthy, and I wanted to have a bright future," the young mother explains.