Visual Aids for a Survey on Child Nutrition in Telangana by Revisual Labs

Early childhood nutrition is crucial for lifelong development. However, millions of children worldwide face nutritional deficiencies that hinder their growth and result in significant long-term consequences for health, education, and future income. It is essential to ensure adequate nutrition in the first three years of life to secure a lifetime of overall well-being.
This set of visual aids was designed to accompany PhD candidate Sneha Nimmagadda's research on child nutrition in rural Telangana, India. Together, these aids facilitate data collection and dissemination among 1542 mothers of children under the age of three in the 2 surveyed districts. These aids were deployed by 20 trained enumerators in Telugu, the language native to the region.
The first component is a printed chart, conceptualised as a survey tool to capture mothers' perceptions of their child's height and weight in the surveyed districts. Instructional cues ease the decision-making process for mothers and encourage granular responses.
The second component is a story-based digital presentation visualising the lifelong impacts of childhood undernutrition. This presentation was shown to 505 mothers in the experimental group to evaluate the impact of access to information on child-feeding practices. Several technical and social considerations informed our design, including the available media in the field, the survey methodology itself, the wide range of data, and the data literacy of the audience. Statistical data was simplified, contextual illustrations were added, and a conversational tone was adopted to make the information engaging, intuitive, and easy to understand.
Preliminary results from the baseline survey indicate that mothers exposed to the presentation are more likely to choose a bundle of protein-rich foods for their child over an equivalent cash prize. These positive results from the field illustrate the potential of thoughtful information design in data collection and visualisation.