Five-year-old Krishna laughs as her father, Ram Shankar, tickles her with one hand and measures her upper-arm circumference with the other.

The band reads green — a sign that Krishna’s weight is perfectly healthy. Not long ago, that was not the case.

“My daughter was severely malnourished. We didn’t know what malnutrition was all about,” confesses 29-year-old Ram. “It was only when World Vision staff and volunteers came to my house and weighed my child that I got to know that she was in the red zone — severely malnourished.”

The concerned father wasted no time stepping into action. He enrolled his daughter in World Vision’s Urgent Management and Action for Nutritional Growth program.

The child’s weight started increasing. 

“We were educated in the program about healthy eating habits … We were also given kitchen gardening seeds. Now we have access to green vegetable in our own backyard.”

Photo©2014 World Vision, Annila Harris