International Medical Corps is seeing huge success from a community nutrition program it started in October 2005 for moderately malnourished children under the age of five in Burundi’s Rutana province. Using the Positive Deviance Hearth Model, the program trains parents on how to prepare healthy foods with available and affordable local products.
During the first three months of the program, 58 malnourished children and their parents participated in the training – in small groups of six to eight children. All but five of the 58 gained weight after the initial 12-day phase.
The mothers and fathers play a critical role in the program, with International Medical Corps conducting an initial 12-day model parent training prior to community training. After the 12 days, the groups are then asked to continue the healthy cooking on their own.
One month after the initial phase, the results were impressive. Weight and height measurements showed that all children except two gained enough weight to no longer be considered malnourished. The average weight gain 45 days after the start of the community nutrition program was 14.5%, which is better than results seen in some of the supplementary feeding services.
The community is now aware that malnutrition can be corrected through change in food practices and behavior. After one month the mothers are actively practicing what they’ve learned and all of the participating children in Rutana are free from malnutrition. Overall, the parents are very enthusiastic about the program and are motivating others in their community to join the nutrition groups.