“When I was pregnant with her (her baby), my kidneys were not working well. My hemoglobin level was very low. I went to the doctor, but it cost me $125. I couldn’t buy it,” she told CNA.
She now receives support from the charity Scalia, which helps disadvantaged women like her fight malnutrition. The charity conducts monthly health checks at free health camps.
For several years, Skarya has been working with a community of boropickers just outside the capital city of New Delhi to provide free medicines, nutritional advice and health food packets.
Their efforts are aimed at alleviating a nationwide problem of malnutrition, raising concerns that it could cost the country’s next generation.
India’s recent National Family Health Survey reported that more than one-third of the country’s children suffer from stunting.
Meera Sapasi, the founder of Skaliya, also sees it among the children in the communities her charity serves.
“[If]they don’t have normal weight and height, they don’t have the brain development they need. They have concentration problems. So what happens? They study properly.” You cannot become a full-fledged person, a citizen,” she said.
A lack of understanding of what to eat seems to be at the heart of India’s double problem.
In 2017, India launched an initiative to combat malnutrition by providing free food supplements and more nutritious school meals.
This is a step towards ensuring that people in India are eating right, and experts say it could help inform the public and help India fight both malnutrition and diabetes in its population. said.
