OUR SPRINKLES PROGRAM
What are Sprinkles?
Sprinkles are sachets (the size of small sugar packets) containing a blend of micronutrients in powder form, which are easily sprinkled onto foods prepared in the home. Any semi-solid food can be instantly fortified by adding Sprinkles. Coating of the micronutrients prevents changes to the taste, colour or texture of the food to which Sprinkles are added. Sprinkles prevent mineral and vitamin deficiencies among pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children.
Dr. Stanley Zlotkin and his research team developed Sprinkles at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children in 1996 to fight micronutrient deficiency. Micronutrient deficiency is a form of malnutrition, caused by a diet poor in minerals and vitamins, that leads to a variety of health problems. A Sprinkles sachet contains a multi-micronutrient formulation that prevents and treats anemia, rickets, and other diseases. Sprinkles is an effective, cost efficient method of preventing and fighting malnutrition.
Regardless of the food consumed, Sprinkles provides the daily dose of micronutrients needed for children to receive essential vitamins such as vitamin A, C, and D, folic acid, zinc, and iodine. For women, they do not conflict with breast-feeding and can be safely regulated and used by any age group.
How are Sprinkles delivered?
First Steps completed a two-year effectiveness study of Sprinkles in cooperation with North Korea’s Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) in 2007-2008. Based on the excellent results, ICN partnered with First Steps to distribute Sprinkles through public government clinics to pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children from 6-24 months. Women receive Sprinkles from pregnancy until three months postpartum.
The cost of Sprinkles varies depending on the volume that is produced. The sachets are available for use by governments, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations (such as First Steps). They are used on a humanitarian basis, directed to populations in need which in turn affects the supply and demand for Sprinkles.
In order to purchase appropriate numbers of Sprinkles, First Steps interviews health care providers in DPR Korea, receiving authentic data on the number of beneficiaries at each clinic, the number of Sprinkles sachets that each clinic currently has, and the number of Sprinkles sachets each clinic needs in future. This information is compiled, analyzed, and factored into the purchase order and distribution plan.
Following the procurement and shipment of Sprinkles from Malaysia into North Korea, First Steps visits DPR Korea three to four times per year in order to confirm the arrival of shipments and to continue evaluating our impact on both our Soymilk and Sprinkles programs. First Steps enjoys unrestricted access to all of our partner locations in the DPRK.
First Steps visits our partner clinics in DPR Korea to confirm that Sprinkles have been delivered according to our distribution plan. First Steps conducts visual checks and verifies that the Sprinkles are being used for their intended purposes and with their intended recipients.
Impact of our Sprinkles Program:
Since the implementation of First Steps’ Sprinkles program in 2008, First Steps has seen steady improvements in the health and nutritional status of the women and children in areas where we work, according to our study conducted in partnership with the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) in DPR Korea and countless personal testimonies.
During First Steps’ visits to our partner clinics in DPR Korea, we have had the opportunity to interview mothers who use Sprinkles. After a few months of taking Sprinkles, it is not uncommon for pregnant women and mothers to inform First Steps that they do not suffer from anemia any longer, and that their children are developing well with high recovery from diarrhea.
Sprinkles have also been well-received as an essential nutritional supplement for women in DPR Korea, as most now view Sprinkles as a necessity for all pregnant and nursing mothers. Many of the women First Steps interviewed over the years have said that they heard about Sprinkles from a friend or relative, and that they want to take it because it works.
