Child Malnutrition in Myanmar: “I felt so sad because I couldn’t feed him enough.”

Children are suffering as conflict engulfs Myanmar (Burma). Chae, 33, whose youngest child is acutely malnourished, tells of the struggle to keep her children healthy.

“We struggle every day to make a living.”

In 2022, a mobile health team visited Chae’s village in a remote part of Bago Region, Myanmar. “They checked the children,” Chae explains. “They told me my young son was malnourished and needed treatment.”

Chae’s two-year-old son is the youngest of her six children. She and her husband work as day laborers: planting, picking crops, and doing other manual work. “We don’t have permanent jobs or regular income,” she confirms. “We struggle every day to make a living.”

Myanmar’s widening conflict compounds the difficulties Chae and her fellow villagers face. “We hear fighting around our village daily, and I worry for my children’s safety,” she reveals. “We were already displaced in 2016 and moved here. Sometimes, the fighting is so close that we can’t go to the fields. We lose income, and it makes our lives more difficult. Sometimes, we don’t have any income for a whole week.”

Myanmar’s economic crisis is also taking a heavy toll. “Prices are constantly rising,” Chae confirms. “We can only afford two sacks of rice monthly with our income.”

A mobile health team from the community organization Yoma Social Development Association (YSDA) identified Chae’s son’s malnutrition as part of an emergency nutrition and maternal and child health project implemented by Community Partners International (CPI) in southeastern Myanmar. The YSDA mobile health teams screen for malnutrition in remote villages using the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement to identify malnutrition.

Her son’s diagnosis hit Chae hard. “I felt so sad because we couldn’t feed him enough. His arms were so small and thin.”

“The treatment is free, and it’s good.”

When Chae’s son was diagnosed with acute malnutrition, a YSDA health worker counseled her on the next steps. “He told me to feed him healthy food such as beans, meat, and vegetables and to come to the clinic every two weeks for check-ups. ” she explains, “He also provided a nutritious powder for him.”

But poverty makes it difficult for Chae to feed her son the food he needs. “We can’t afford it,” she confirms. “We can only afford to feed him rice, fish paste, and soup. Only rarely can we give him better food.”

Chae now visits the clinic regularly with her son. “When we come to the clinic, they provide supplements, check him, and give him medicine to make him want to eat. Now he is improving and needs just one supplement with rice. The treatment is free, and it’s good.”

The clinic is also supporting Chae with family planning. “I don’t want to have another baby because we are already struggling,” she confirms. “I don’t have the confidence to raise more children.”

Saw Moo Kler is the clinic-in-charge at the YSDA clinic where Chae’s son receives treatment. “This clinic provides primary health care services, family planning, and nutrition treatment for children under five,” he explains. “It’s a referral clinic, so we accept patients from other clinics and village health committees and refer them to the township hospital if we can’t provide appropriate care here. The clinic catchment area is 30 villages, with about 25,000 to 30,000 people.”

“Before we established the clinic, there was no health facility in this area,” Saw Moo Kler continues. “It was tough for people to access health care. They needed to travel long distances and transport was not good. Now, it’s much easier for them to access services, and there are fewer communication barriers because our health workers speak their language.”

Alongside the support provided to the YSDA in Bago Region, Community Partners International is also supporting partners in Kayin, Mon, Shan and Kachin States and Tanintharyi Region under this project to provide emergency nutrition and maternal and child health services to nearly 330,000 people in conflict-affected and displaced communities. Project data from 2022 indicates that almost one in 15 children under five is acutely malnourished in some areas.

“Health workers don’t feel safe when they travel. Sometimes we must suspend our activities because it’s too dangerous to continue.”

With cases of malnutrition likely on the rise, Saw Moo Kler and his colleagues are anxious to support their communities. “Our mobile health teams visit the villages each month to screen children for malnutrition and educate community members about good nutrition,” he explains. “If we find severe or moderate acute malnutrition cases, we provide nutritional supplements and counseling to the parents. We also ask them to bring the child to the clinic for follow-up treatment and support transportation costs to encourage them to keep their appointments.”

But conflict is making it challenging to sustain lifesaving health services. “Due to the fighting in this area, it’s difficult for people to reach the clinic safely,” reveals Saw Moo Kler. “The mobile health team has to pass checkpoints, and there is a six-pm curfew. Health workers don’t feel safe when they travel. Sometimes we must suspend our activities because it’s too dangerous to continue. It’s the biggest challenge for us now.”

Despite the hardships her family is facing, Chae tries to stay positive. “I am happy that my son is getting better and thankful for the free treatment from the clinic,” she says. “Now, my first three children are attending school in the village, and I would like to support their education more. I hope they become educated people such as teachers or health workers. We want to live happily in our village.”