The Right To Nutrition is as important as the unspoken right to breathe deeply and freely. But still for thousands of children in India diagnosed with cancer, being malnourished at the time of diagnosis is their unfortunate circumstance. For so many children like 14-year-old Pradeep, food insecurity can hold back the progress of their treatment until someone fights to make their Right to Nutrition a reality.

Pradeep is under treatment for a brain tumour at our partner hospital. With your help and support, our nutritionist Angel works hard to give Pradeep all the access he needs to his vital right to a wholesome and healing diet.

Angel tells us about his nutrition journey:

“When we first met him before surgery, although he was only mildly thin, he was bedridden due to the disease. He was unable to eat or even drink water. We had to work closely with his doctor and his mother to help him get comfortable with tube feeds, and then progress to an oral liquid diet before normalising his diet again.”

The focus on building his nutritional status continued even post surgery as he lost a worrying 10 kgs. His Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC – a method by which a nutritionist determines nutritional status) decreased by 3 cm as his status dropped to ‘Severe Thinness’. Now with the constant nutritional counselling, follow-up and nutritional supplements, he has gained significant 6 kgs in weight and MUAC has improved by 2 cm.

Angel remembers, – “One of my most memorable moments was when he started asking when he could eat his favourite foods again. The sight of him, though weak and in a wheelchair, waving at us and enquiring about all the food he was craving was a turning point that I cherish.”

Pradeep is the youngest of 3 brothers. A family with 5 mouths to feed is challenging to manage even under usual circumstances. And Pradeep’s father, a farmer, struggles with his uncertain stream of income.

Pradeep and his family are recipients of our Supplements, Rations and In-meals. He is currently staying with his mother and elder brother in Hyderabad in a rented room, miles away from his father at their village in Telangana.

“We couldn’t understand what was happening to our son. We were scared about how we were going to manage to get him the right treatment. When we found out that we would need to keep him under a strict diet as well, we didn’t think that was possible until we met our Cuddles nutritionist. Knowing that the food that Pradeep needed would be assured by generous people like you is a gift we will never forget”, Pradeep’s mother tells us.

Feeding the Right To Nutrition has a wonderful cascading effect. It also feeds the right to dream of a happy future, the right to live a childhood filled with play and learning and the right to grow up to enjoy a full life. Pradeep can’t wait to go to school and play cricket with his friends. He loves maths, but doesn’t know yet what he wants to do when he grows up. We’ve told him that’s perfectly fine – he has every right to take all the time he needs to figure that out.