Nutrition
Goals for Mexico
Source: Fundación Televisa
In Fundación Televisa we are aware that child malnutrition in our country is a very serious problem –it affects more than 4 million children between the ages of 0 and 5 years of age, specially in rural areas-, which requires immediate attention, since it generates irreversible consequences for those who suffer it: inadequate psychomotor development (inadequate weight and height, slowness and insufficient energy to interact, diminution of their mental and learning capacities); increase risk of acquiring serious chronic diseases, such as diabetes and blindness; and even in the more severe cases, the risk of death. For all the above said one of our main priorities is to considerably lower the malnutrition levels that ail what is most valuable in Mexico: our children.
Objectives:
In Fundación Televisa we are very aware that to make significant advancements in the reduction of child malnutrition in Mexico it is necessary first, to generate social awareness as to the graveness of this problem, since we are certain that as so as far as more people are aware of the situation that affects so many of our children, it will be easier to find a solution and give them the necessary help. For us it is of the utmost importance to elevate the living conditions and procure improvement opportunity for our children, based on good health and general well being. Conscious of the magnitude of the problem, we work every day taking care of the communities that present a high index of malnutrition in their children, ranging from 0 to 5 years of age.
How we help:
For every goal scored by the Football Clubs Chivas, Atlas, Tecos, Morelia and Santos 25 children ages 0 to 5 receive nutrition aids during an average of two and a half years. This is done through the program of Integral Nutrition that Un Kilo de Ayuda A.C. gives to the families of this children every fortnight, and educating mothers on the importance of health care and hygiene. There is also a close follow up on the child’s development, weighting and measuring them regularly to evaluate if the help rendered is working adequately. To acomplish this we receive the invaluable asístanse Of. Televisa Deportes, GNP, Un Kilo de Ayuda A.C., the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y de Nutrición Salvador Zurbiran. (The National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zurbiran)
Fundación Televisa and GNP collaborate with the resources necessary for fighting malnutrition in the communities previously selected by the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y de Nutrición Salvador Zurbian (The National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zurbiran) and Un Kilo de Ayuda A.C.
Un Kilo de Ayuda A.C. delivers the nutrition program integrated by four elements: food, health, information and supervision:
- Food: delivery of the nutritional packages every fourth nigh, which includes diverse food in benefit of the child and its family.
- Health: Partnering with clinics and hospitals near the communities to supervise the general health of the child.
- Information: Talks and informative pamphlets for the families regarding hygiene, health and nutrition.
- Follow up: Periodical recording of each child’s weight and height
The governments of the states of Guerrero and Mexico grant resources for the attention rendered in their communities.
Other football clubs that have participated in this program are: Puebla, Jaguares, Irapuato, Queretaro, Toluca, Necaxa and the National Team.
Results:
From March 2001 to December 2004, 568 goals were scored in benefit of the nutrition program; 27,075 children were benefited, receiving 983,153 nutrition kits, delivered every fortnight in seven states of the country. In our Annual Report of 2001 we stated that thanks to the goals scored by the Football Club Necaxa we had 4,150 children below the age of 5 with nutritional direct assistance, in 2003 the help for this children ended (since they had by then turned five years old), with the following results:
- At the beginning of the program there were 534 children with high risk malnutrition; during the last evaluation on 2003 this number was reduced to 395 children below five years of age.
- These children with severe malnutrition had a weight gain of 157.3%; those with moderate malnutrition, 125.5%; and the children with slight malnutrition, 117.1%
- Of the 534 detected children with severe malnutrition, 48 have now a normal nutritional status, 207 have slight malnutrition, 234 have moderate malnutrition and 33 still have severe malnutrition.
- Of the 112 detected children with severe malnutrition, 10 have a normal nutritional status, 17 have slight malnutrition, 52 have moderate malnutrition and 33 still have severe malnutrition.
Since 2001 Fundacion Televisa has supported 36,675 children from rural communities in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Mexico, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Yucatan.
