WHY MICRONUTRIENTS?

When whole populations suffer from malnutrition, including a lack of critical vitamins and minerals, nations likewise cannot fulfill their potential. Health-care costs rise, education efforts are thwarted, the workforce is less capable and productive, and economic activity is curtailed. Human capital overall is significantly diminished.

Vitamins and minerals are essential for the survival, growth and development of children. The provision of supplements has a dramatic impact on the health of children aged 6-59 months, reducing the risk of mortality by up to 23%, according to UNICEF.

While the world focuses primarily on the drama of natural disasters, the number of children that succumb to what has been labeled "the silent emergency of malnutrition" far exceeds those affected by natural emergencies. In May 2008, the Copenhagen Consensus panel considered 30 options and ranked provision of micronutrients as the world’s best investment for development.

Kirk Humanitarian believes the best value for a single dollar invested in these children and expectant mothers, comes in the form of multivitamin supplementation. Remarkably powerful for the tiny levels required, micronutrients support an array of critical biological functions including development of the brain and the nervous system, skeletal development and growth, immune function, and eye function. Outcomes include:

• Decreased birth defects
• Increased I.Q. – estimated to be 12 to 15 points
• Increased birth weight
• Increased height
• Increased resistance to diseases

In support of that belief, the World Health Organization and UNICEF publicly advocate the dissemination of micronutrients as a cornerstone strategy to conquering the woes of acute malnutrition.

Vitamins distributed by Kirk Humanitarian meet and exceed the pharmaceutical grade formulation standards approved by the FDA and international health organizations.