By Caroline Chiimba
Placing mothers at the center of malnutrition screening strategies acknowledges that they are in the best position to detect the earliest signs of malnutrition in their children.
Using a multifaceted approach to fighting malnutrition in vulnerable communities, the EU funded ‘Enhanced Resilience for Vulnerable Households in Zimbabwe’ (ERVHIZ) project trained more that eighteen thousand households to screen for malnutrition using MAUC tapes in Matebeleland’s six districts.
Through the Care group model, Nutrition Action Zimbabwe in partnership with Ministry of Health under the ERVHIZ project distributed MAUC tapes to families and trained them on how to use the tapes. In Matobo district, mothers expressed great enthusiasm in participating in the promotion of their children’s health and nutrition.
The Family MUAC approach trains mothers and other caregivers to identify early signs of malnutrition in their children using the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape.
The introduction of family led MAUC approach has improved our efficiency as community health workers in the area, cases are detected earlier leading to less hospitalizations. It reduces the workload on us allowing us to focus on a wider radius while empowering any caregiver or child minder with knowledge to manage their children’s health,” said Lindiwe Ndlovu, Village Health worker (VHW) Gubula Village.
“The MAUC tape is user friendly as it uses colors and there is no need for mothers to focus on numbers. The tape has three colors which is red, yellow and green. Red shows that the child is in danger and needs urgent help, yellow shows that the child needs attention while the green reading shows that the child is healthy.
“The good aspect of this is that the mothers or anyone can just read the color and know the health status of their child without reading the numbers. This approach is inclusive and not elitist, thus easier to embrace for vulnerable communities.”
Rhoda Vundla, a mother of three expressed appreciation for the project, citing that it has empowered her as a mother to oversee her children’s health issues. As an active member of the care group, Rhoda takes issues of malnutrition and health to heart.
“I once measured my 16months old daughter and her MAUC was yellow. This was a cue to me that l needed to pull up my standards and feed the child vigorously following lessons we received from our care group. I ensured that l fed her with four-star balanced diet to return her good health,” Rhoda said.
“I am very thankful to Nutrition Action Zimbabwe for teaching us about four-star diet, its importance in our daily dishes and they even went a step further to teach us how to cook the food. I didn’t know that l can incorporate matemba and mopane worms or even vegetables in making porridge. We practically learnt this through cooking demonstrations.
“It is because of this vital knowledge that l was able to take care of my child to improve from yellow to green. The MAUC tape helped me identify a challenge at the comfort of my home while the nutrition knowledge l gained from care groups helped me in overcoming malnutrition.”
Kwanele Sibanda, a Village health worker in Matobo added that family led MAUC has spread the childcare responsibility to all family members, incorporating the fathers, and caregivers, noting that this way cases can be identified early and help health care workers to provide timely interventions to prevent the condition from worsening.
These interventions include providing nutritional supplements, educating families on proper feeding practices, and referring severe cases to specialized treatment centers.
