Diversified Diets Improve Childhood Nutrition

The nutrition component focused on practical applications of traditional training methods, including cooking demonstrations and garden plot preparation. USAID-ACCESO worked with rural families to promote new techniques for healthy food preparation and home garden production. The initiative's success was evident in the small community of Las Pavas, where attendance at USAID-ACCESO-sponsored nutrition trainings increased significantly in December. Twenty-eight of the 34 area children under two years old participated in December activities, up from 21 in October and November. The mothers in Las Pavas were motivated by the support and home visits from USAID-ACCESO staff and partners. Six women had already prepared their home garden plots, and the number of underweight children was reduced from 28 percent to 18 percent from October to December. One child had been underweight for four months before her mother received USAID-ACCESO training, and another overcame a chronic condition after five months in the lowest percentile of children monitored. Angela Martinez, a Las Pavas mother, reported that she was able to improve her young daughter's health after learning new recipes for nutritious foods at AIN-C monthly meetings. She began giving her daughter more food more often and made tortillas with carrots and greens, with her husband contributing yuca and other vegetables. Eladia Vasquez, another Las Pavas mother, also reported a drastic improvement in her daughter's health since she began preparing fortified tortillas she learned to make at AIN-C monthly meetings. The initiative's success in Las Pavas was attributed to the use of local inputs that were previously not used or discarded. The women were preparing better, more nutritious food for their families, contributing to both the overall health and food security of their communities. USAID-ACCESO plans to replicate its success in Las Pavas through similar trainings and outreach in communities across western Honduras.