Building parent confidence to feed children well

Topic: 

Nutrition, Malnutrition, Health, Myanmar

Description: 

"High up in the Thangmual Hills in north-western Myanmar’s Chin State, Nu Lun dreams of her seven-month-old daughter growing up to be strong and clever. Like most mothers, Nu Lun wants the best for her child, but she is unsure about the right way to feed her little one. Nu Lun lives in a wooden cabin with her baby daughter, husband, mother-in-law and 12-year-old nephew. She buys rice and oil from the market, but most of the family’s food comes from their home garden and farm where her husband works. To learn about nutrition, Nun Lun attends the local women’s group run by the auxiliary midwife in Tedim. Her mother-in-law also influences her, telling her the things her baby should and should not eat and how to prepare the food. Nu Lun’s daughter often refuses to eat new foods, struggling with the textures and unable to swallow them. So Nu Lun finds herself reverting to giving her baby girl just breast milk and rice soup. “They tell us about the extra foods we should give our baby, but my daughter spits them out. They are too coarse for her, so I just give her rice soup and breast,” explains Nu Lun while cooking traditional Chin corn soup for the rest of the family. Other mothers are apparently also confused about what supplementary foods they should give their babies at what ages. Struggling to understand the food charts, they worry about their children choking..."

Source/publisher: 

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Myanmar)

Date of Publication: 

2019-10-23

Date of entry: 

2019-11-10

Grouping: 

  • Individual Documents

Category: 

Countries: 

Myanmar

Language: 

English

Resource Type: 

text

Text quality: 

    • Good