The Chicago Council’s campaign, “Healthy Food for a Healthy World,” builds awareness about the important role food can play in promoting health and alleviating malnutrition. We publish a blog post weekly exploring these issues and the series will culminate in the release of a new Chicago Council report at the Global Food Security Symposium 2015 on April 16. Look for a new post each Wednesday, join the discussion using #GlobalAg, and tune in to the Symposium live steam on April 16.
By Roger Thurow, Senior Fellow, Global Agriculture & Food, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Good nutrition goes hand-in-hand with clean water, sanitation and hygiene. Literally. In many settings around the world, in poor neighborhoods and rich, I have seen washing hands as a central part of nutrition education programs.
Malnutrition isn’t only due to a lack of nutritious food; it can be exacerbated by parasites, bacteria, aflatoxins and pathogens found in the food, water and soil. Bad water, poor sanitation and lousy hygiene undermine nutrition: illnesses like diarrhea and dysentery force nutrients out of the body, while parasites and worms absorb the nutrients meant for the body.
In a country like Guatemala, the toxic mixture of poor nutrition and poor sanitation leads to widespread malnutrition and stunting of children. In the western highlands, where parasitic infection is endemic, the malnutrition and stunting rate approaches 70 percent. And so, at a rural clinic named Primeros Pasos (First Steps), the nutrition-cleanliness lesson is taught early and often.
One morning, I followed a class of kindergartners as they came in for their annual checkup and health lesson. After the children had been weighed and measured and examined, they gathered in a small classroom, where the walls were covered with posters of food. They learned about the benefits of selecting fruits and vegetables for snacks rather than chips and sweets.
“You all want to be big and strong?,” asked an instructor.
“Yes!,” came the reply.
Then the instructor opened up a simple picture book and told a story about a girl named Marequita, teased by her friends as “the dirty one.” She always played in the dirt and didn’t wash up afterwards. She drank dirty water from the river. She ate carrots straight out of the ground without washing off the dirt. She didn’t wear shoes, brush her teeth or use a toilet. Marequita gets a stomach ache and a fever. She is sick in bed.
Marequita visits the doctor, who finds parasites in her stomach. He gives her medicine to fight the worms. Marequita learns to wash her hands, and to ask her parents to boil water before drinking. She promises to wear shoes and use the toilet. She becomes known as “the clean one.”
“So what do you need to do?,” the instructor asked.
“Wash Hands. Use soap.”
“When?”
“Before eating. After using the toilet.”
The class walked outside to a water tap. The pupils practiced washing their hands with soap, scrubbing top and bottom and between the fingers and up their wrists and arms as well. With clean hands, they enjoyed a snack. And they clutched their takeaways for the day: a toothbrush and soap, and de-worming medicine if needed. And a new role model: Marequita the Clean.
Read previous posts in the Healthy Food for a Healthy World blog series:
Leveraging the Digital Revolution to Improve Nutrition
Hungry Cities on the Rise
Women as the Force for Improving Global Nutrition
Wasted Food, Wasted Nutrients
Food as Medicine—The Link Between Nutrition and Health
The $2 Trillion Market for Fruits and Vegetables
Economic Costs of Global Malnutrition