Malnourished Children

Malnutrition has a major impact on the growth and development of babies, and when a baby in the womb does not receive the proper nutrients, the child is predisposed to being malnourished after it is born. Children born with malnutrition is especially an issue in underdeveloped countries where access to nutrients is low and mothers do not have enough education or money to purchase the proper nutrients. Children’s Health Ministries is one organization that has the goal of helping malnourished children in underdeveloped countries such as Haiti, and this organization has been able to treat over 2,500 malnourished children since 2012. According to the Children’s Health Ministries, one out of every five children in Haiti are malnourished, and malnutrition can significantly stunt growth along with affecting brain development and preventing the child’s ability to learn. Malnutrition also can cause extreme immune deficiency which causes the children to be at much higher risks for developing other diseases and dying from them when healthy children would only experience a mild illness from the same disease. One story of a child battling malnutrition is a little girl named Princess who lives in Haiti and was rescued by the Children’s Health Ministries. Princess was born and started her life without receiving proper nutrition, so even when she was a year old she still only weighed 9 pounds and 14 ounces which can be the weight of a larger healthy newborn. Princess received six weeks of antibiotics, therapeutic milk, Medika Mamba, and TLC from the ministry’s staff. After the six weeks, Princess weighed 12 pounds and 13 ounces; she spent more time in their outpatient program, and after three months total, Princess grew to a healthy 17 pounds and 4 ounces which meant she was no longer malnourished. The Children’s Health Ministries along with many other programs help aid in helping malnourished children get proper nutrition, but even healthy children still need to continue to receive proper nutrition in order to reach optimal growth and development.