114 Where There Is No Doctor 2011
This mother and child are from a poor family and are both poorly nourished. The
father works hard, but he does not earn enough to feed the family well. The patches on
the mother’s arms are a sign of pellagra, a type of malnutrition. She ate mostly maize
and not enough nutritious foods such as beans, eggs, fruit, meat, and dark green
vegetables.
The mother did not breastfeed her baby. She fed him only maize porridge. Although
this filled his belly, it did not provide enough nutrition for him to grow strong. As a result,
this 2 year old child is severely malnourished. He is very small and thin with a swollen
belly, his hair is thin, and his physical and mental development will be slower than
normal. To prevent this, mothers and their children need to eat better.