Surf Board 4

The SurfAid Community Based Health Programs are continuing to implement specialised initiatives to combat malnutrition in the Mentawai and Nias islands.

SurfAid’s research shows that the rate of moderate/severe malnutrition in children under five years of age is approximately 40 per cent throughout the Mentawai and Nias communities that were assessed.

SurfAid’s Hearth nutrition rehabilitation sessions have three objectives to:

1. To quickly rehabilitate malnourished children identified in the community;
2. To enable families to sustain the rehabilitation of these children at home on their own;
3. To prevent future malnutrition among all children born in the community by changing community norms in childcare, feeding and health-seeking practices.