Key Facts

  • Globally, 1 in 3 people are malnourished but the poorest people who have inadequate access to clean water and sanitation are most likely to be affected
  • The incidence of malnutrition dwarfs most other diseases
  • Malnutrition increases the risk of disease and early death and plays a major role in half of all deaths in children under 5 years old
KENYA: An IMPACT home garden

KENYA: An IMPACT home garden

Throughout the developing world, food prices are rising fast.  Even small increases push thousands of households over the poverty line. 60-80% of a poor family’s income is spent on food.

Shortage of vitamin A is the most common cause of irreversible sight loss in children, and exposes them to disabling disease. It is estimated that half of all children who become blind due to vitamin A deficiency will die within 12 months of losing their sight.

Anaemia is caused by iron deficiency. It can result in serious problems for pregnant mothers and impair their children and is an associated cause in half the maternal deaths in developing countries.

IMPACT is empowering people with understanding about nutrition and helping them to grow vegetables to meet their need for micronutrients and to provide protection against food inflation.  Surplus produce can be sold generating income to buy meat or dairy, school books and start businesses.

Where a person is at immediate risk of severe malnutrition, micronutrient supplements and anti-parasitic drugs are the only solution.

We distribute folic acid and iron during maternity clinics and vitamin A is given to protect children’s eyesight.  During the last year more than 100,000 people received supplements and 82,000 people were given anti-parasitic drugs.

Iodine deficiency affects two billion people.  It is the single biggest preventable cause of mental retardation and plays a role in a number of health conditions.  Distributing salt fortified with iodine is an effective remedy; IMPACT provides it to poor families in Cambodia, Nepal and The Philippines.  Also in Nepal, ‘sarbottam pitho’ (a fortified flour) is helping to save young lives in our project in Rupendehi.

£20 Establishes a kitchen garden to feed a family

IMPACT’s ‘Neighbourhood Healthwatch’ in the UK

IMPACT is committed to preventing malnutrition in all its forms. At one end of the spectrum our work in the developing world focuses on boosting nutritional uptake; whilst in the UK we are tackling the equally serious issue of unhealthy diets and the excessive intake of food.

Visit our ‘Tasty Team’ page to see how we are helping people in West Sussex to improve their diets and make healthy lifestyle choices.

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