“You don’t realize it, but in the city of Boston, we have kids that meet the same criteria for malnutrition that the World Health Organization sets out,” Dr. Megan Sandel said. “And those are the kids that come and see us.”

“So these are like medical emergencies,” Sandel said. “If these kids aren’t growing, they’re not on the growth curve, they’re not growing their bodies, they’re not growing their brains.”