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Saving Lives With Colorful Dots
How a traditional Indian decoration may help women and children
If you look at the photo of me above, when I was a toddler, you’ll notice a little dot on my forehead. It is a bindi, which traditionally Indian women would wear when they got married. However, in modern times, many women wear them as fashion statements. When I was a child, I had several little plastic ones that I would put on for fun. In the photo above, however, my mother probably used traditional paint to create the dot.
Now, there is an Indian initiative that is using bindis to provide women with a nutrient that many need.
The nutrient is iodine, and it is needed to support the thyroid. Iodine deprivation can cause symptoms in adults, but it has more serious consequences for the fetus. If a pregnant woman does not have enough iodine, her child can have problems with brain development.
In India, about a third of the population is at risk for iodine deficiency as they live in areas where the soil is iodine-deprived. This means they can’t get enough iodine through their food, and many also don’t have access to iodized salt.
That led to the idea of using an iodine-coated bindi to help get women this vital nutrient.
