Healthy Habits Healthy Kids
Mission-No child dies of malnutrition and poor hygiene.
Healthy Habits Healthy Kids (H3K) is a unique program implemented by Safe Kids Foundation. The program aims to reduce the deaths and morbidities among children caused due to malnutrition. According to doctors, malnutrition affects immunity of a child and hampers the growth. When children are undernourished their resistance to infections is lowered and are more susceptible or frequently suffer from diarrheal diseases and other infections.
The Healthy Habits Healthy Kids program provides fortified nutritious food supplements and personal hygiene awareness sessions to children. The program empowers the parents, teachers and communities to adopt nutritious diet practice and maintain personal hygiene.
A simple act of hand washing with soap can reduce incidences of communicable diseases like Covid19, diarrhea and others. It is simple, effective and cost-efficient. The children and communities are educated about appropriate eating habits, hygienic and nutritious food practices, environmental sanitation and personal hygiene.
Children in their primary schooling age can learn specific health-promoting behaviors. Maintenance of personal hygiene and awareness of nutritious food can improve the quality of life and longevity.
The organization conducts basic health assessment of children before the supplementary nutrition intervention:
• A team of MBBS doctors conducts health evaluation of every child
• Provide vitamin A and Deworming medications.
• Provides snacks with nutrition supplements daily
• The snacks are fortified with iron, folic acid, vitamins A and D and calcium.
Anganwadi teachers, volunteers and social workers are trained to conduct sessions with the children on personal hygiene. The sessions cover importance of cleanliness, through modules on topics such as bathing, oral hygiene, cleanliness of hair, eyes, nose, feet, hands, menstrual hygiene, thus covering entire body hygiene.
Parents and adults are educated about cooking a nutritious diet, cooking tips to preserve nutrition and preparation of nutritious recipes, cleanliness while cooking and cleanliness of external environment.
A hygiene kit is distributed to the children and parents, the hygiene kit contains, soap bar, nail trimmer, comb, hand sanitizer, tooth brush, tooth paste, hair oil and shampoo.
Currently, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the anganwadi teachers and helpers along with the community health workers have started going from house to house providing information and creating awareness about Corona virus, hand washing, respiratory hygiene, use of mask and also providing information to families for referral and care of those found with any symptoms in the communities in Palghar District, Maharashtra. The organization works in close partnership with the government, Anganwadis- ICDS System, schools and communities to combat malnutrition.
Upcoming Plan
The organization plans to continue creating awareness on COVID-19, awareness about respiratory hygiene, handwashing, use of mask, general hygiene and sanitation and to build immunity of the children and families by providing nutrition supplements in the upcoming months as preparedness measure.
