LET'S FIGHT ANEMIA
Developed by:
Bhawana Thapaliya (WFP – Nepal)
Ilaria Schibba (WFP – Nepal)
Sanne Bakker (WFP – Nepal)
Project Supervisor:
Marco Cavalcante (WFP – Nepal)
Technical Consultation:
Katrien Ghoos (WFP – Regional Bureau for Asia)
Lindsey Horton (WFP – Regional Bureau for Asia)
Sanju Bhattarai (UNICEF – Nepal)
Pradiumna Dahal (UNICEF - Nepal)
Lakruwan Dassanayake (UNHCR - Nepal)
Nini Gurung (UNHCR - Nepal)
Salina Khatoon (UNHCR - Nepal)
Illustrations and Design:
The Image Creators P. Ltd.
Translations:
Bhawana Thapaliya (WFP – Nepal)
Pushpa Sunuwar (WFP – Nepal)
Project Management (WFP Nepal):
Ilaria Schibba
Kishor Aryal
Kishor Rai
Pramila Ghimire
Pushpa Sunuwar
Sanne Bakker
Subhash Singh
Bhawana Thapaliya
Jagdish Pant
Kamal Dhungana
Prabin Shrestha
Special Thanks to:
Shrid Dhungel
Anusara Singhkumarwong
Nicole Menage (WFP - Nepal)
Hanaa Singer (UNICEF - Nepal)
Craig Sanders (UNHCR - Nepal)
Meena is a little girl who lives in a village with her parents, her grandmother, her
brother Raju and her baby sister Rani. Mithu the parrot is her best friend. She is
friendly. She is not afraid to ask questions. She solves problems and shows you all
the things a little girl can do.
3
Gita is not in class today. Meena is curious to know what happened to Gita so she
decides to visit her at home.
Teacher can we visit
Gita and find out what
happened to her?
4
Gita is not feeling well.
I do not have energy
to go to school
nor to play.
How are you Gita?
5
The health worker told
us Gita has anemia.
What happened to Gita?
6
Teacher,
what is anemia?
7
In our body there are millions of red blood cells. They are very important. They bring
oxygen to our body.
If the red blood cell size
reduces or their number
decreases you will suffer
from anemia.
8
Anemia can have different causes. Let’s start talking about one of the main causes.
We can be anemic if we do
not get enough iron.
9
Iron is important to develop our body and brain and to keep us healthy and active.
And to fight diseases.
10
Look at the delicious animal products rich in iron on the poster: meat, eggs, fish.
Oh! I see.
Eggs
Chicken
Mutton
Fish
11
There are also other food items that contain iron, such as millet, spinach, legumes,
green leafy vegetables and a variety of different vegetables. But remember you
should eat them together with iron-lover foods rich in Vitamin C. Otherwise your
body will not be able to properly absorb iron.
12
Some foods are enemies of iron and therefore their consumption should be avoided
or limited.
Children should not drink tea or
coffee. Pregnant and lactating
mothers should also avoid these
drinks because they can limit iron
absorption.
13
Pregnant and lactating women and children need more iron than other community
members.
Therefore children and women
have the priority in consuming
iron-rich foods.
14
Breast milk contains good quantities of iron. It is very important to exclusively
breastfeed babies for the first six months of life. After six months, on top of breast
milk, infants need to receive also appropriately mashed foods rich in iron.
This is exactly what I did
when Gita was a small
baby and young child.
15
However, anemia can also be caused by infectious diseases such as TB or worms
infections.
Oh! This is why it is
so important to stay
healthy and to treat
other diseases.
16
For example, worms can infest your body and consume your blood. But if you wear
slippers, wash your hands with soap before eating, after going to the toilet and
touching animals you will keep your body free from worms.
17
17
If you want to avoid worms in your body you should not forget to use latrines,
keep your environment clean and keep animals away from the house. And don’t
forget to take the deworming tablets provided by the health center every six
months (for children between one and five years).
18
Deworming Tablet
18
What else can we do to fight against anemia?
You need to finish every spoon
of Supercereal provided by WFP
because it is rich in iron.
Supercereal contains
iron, just as meat and
lentils
19
Also MNP sprinkles are really good for your health as they contain a lot of iron: they
must be added to food for children aged 6 to 59 months.
1 full sachet per child every
other day. The sachet needs to
be mixed with semi-solid food
thatMNP
is ready for consumption.
20
In addition, pregnant and lactating women should take daily iron tablets as instructed
by the health workers and they should follow their recommendations.
I had never forgotten to take
my iron tablets when I was
pregnant with you Gita.
21
One week later Meena and the teacher visit Gita again. Gita is feeling much better!
The teacher says that from now on they need to make sure to eat food rich in iron,
vitamin C, and all the Supercereal. Wash their hands with soap and use the latrine.
And always wear slippers!
Thank you so much
teacher for giving us the
information on anemia.
I am already feeling
much better.
22
How are you
feeling Gita?