In India, 350 million people are at a risk for iodine deficiency, and over 71 million suffer from iodine deficiency disorders.
One of the biggest causes is the unavailability of iodized salt in parts of rural India.
According to The Times of India, iodine deficiency is the cause of disorders such as “goitre and impaired mental development and thyroid issues, which in turn have been linked to breast cancer and fibroids.” Furthermore, they write that “children born to mothers lacking in iodine are usually low in IQ and suffer from cretinism, a neurological condition.”
This is why Grey for Good, a philanthropic arm of advertising and marketing agency Grey Group, decided to develop the Life Saving Dot — Jeevan Bindi.
Source: YouTube
Bindis are worn by women all over the world for various reasons, but many Indian women wear them traditionally such as for religious purposes and to signify marriage.
The Jeevan Bindi looks like a regular bindi, but is in fact an iodine bindi. Each containing 100-150 micro grams (the daily required amount), the skin absorbs the iodine, helping women combat their deficiency. The bindis must be worn daily for up to eight hours to be effective, but since the women are not required to make any changes to their daily behavior, Dr. Prachi Pawer, president of Neelvasant Medical Foundation and Research Center (an NGO that organized the distribution of the bindis), has said that it works much better than giving them iodine supplement pills which they used to do in the past.
The Jeevan Bindi is also essential to women of child-bearing age, who need twice as more iodine than they would otherwise usually need.
Like the Jeevan Bindi, there have been similar efforts to combat other nutrient deficiencies without the use of supplement pills. One such example is the Lucky Iron Fish, created to fight against iron deficiency in Cambodia and the rest of the world. You can actually buy the Lucky Iron Fish online for yourself. (Or better yet, buy a school of fish for families in need!)
In India, 350 million people are at a risk for iodine deficiency, and over 71 million suffer from iodine deficiency disorders.
One of the biggest causes is the unavailability of iodized salt in parts of rural India.
According to The Times of India, iodine deficiency is the cause of disorders such as “goitre and impaired mental development and thyroid issues, which in turn have been linked to breast cancer and fibroids.” Furthermore, they write that “children born to mothers lacking in iodine are usually low in IQ and suffer from cretinism, a neurological condition.”
This is why Grey for Good, a philanthropic arm of advertising and marketing agency Grey Group, decided to develop the Life Saving Dot — Jeevan Bindi.
Source: YouTube
Bindis are worn by women all over the world for various reasons, but many Indian women wear them traditionally such as for religious purposes and to signify marriage.
The Jeevan Bindi looks like a regular bindi, but is in fact an iodine bindi. Each containing 100-150 micro grams (the daily required amount), the skin absorbs the iodine, helping women combat their deficiency. The bindis must be worn daily for up to eight hours to be effective, but since the women are not required to make any changes to their daily behavior, Dr. Prachi Pawer, president of Neelvasant Medical Foundation and Research Center (an NGO that organized the distribution of the bindis), has said that it works much better than giving them iodine supplement pills which they used to do in the past.
The Jeevan Bindi is also essential to women of child-bearing age, who need twice as more iodine than they would otherwise usually need.
Like the Jeevan Bindi, there have been similar efforts to combat other nutrient deficiencies without the use of supplement pills. One such example is the Lucky Iron Fish, created to fight against iron deficiency in Cambodia and the rest of the world. You can actually buy the Lucky Iron Fish online for yourself. (Or better yet, buy a school of fish for families in need!)
Source: YouTube