Julio Garay Barrios is the winner of the contest dubbed, ‘An Idea to Change History,’ through his anemia-fighting cookies.
(Photo: Twitter)

Early this year, the History Channel announced Julio Garay Barrios as the winner of its contest dubbed, "An Idea to Change History." A Peruvian agro-industrial engineer, Garay is a native of the Ayacucho region. And his winning entries are "The Nutri H Cookies."

With his conception, children aged, 3 to 6 years old who would eat the cookies every day for 30 consecutive days would have increased hemoglobin levels in their blood systems and this was proven during the pilot tests conducted in Peru. 

The Nutri H cookies, according to the report, are distributed via the approved distribution centers across Peru. More so, they are included in both the municipal and regional campaigns of the government to fight child anemia. In relation to this, nearly 50 percent of the Peruvian children are found to be anemic. And he is undoubtedly considered a serious problem.

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Anemia, a Serious Consequence for Children

Anemia is a health condition that frequently ascends from vitamin and iron deficiency. It also has severe consequences specifically for children. It leads to poor performance, academically since kids who have it tend to be exhausted and find it difficult to focus in class discussions and activities.

Relatively, psychomotor development is damaged, as well, and an immune system that's weakened means, children are at higher risk for contracting infections.

Essentially, the percentage of children with anemia in Peru dropped from "46.1 to 41.1 percent" in 2019 from the year 2018. This was based on the data from the National Institute of Statistics and Computer Science of Peru. Experts have attributed the slight decline to the prevention campaigns of the government.

And, as Garay noted, his Nutri H cookies comprise three basic ingredients which include cocoa, bovine hemoglobin, and quinoa. Bovine hemoglobin in particular, "brings the most iron to the body." Garay himself had childhood anemia and this concept of him inspired him to look for a solution.

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Highlighting Latin America's Innovators

The contest which proclaimed Garay as the winner highlighted Latin America's innovators with ideas that have the potential to change many people's everyday life. This Peruvian notion, Garay shared, will change not just Latin America but the whole world, as well.

Reminiscently, the engineer shared he had pneumonia for a short time when he was 5 years old. This particular condition was said to be far from a particular experience and his needs ultimately ignited the idea.

As earlier mentioned, 5 out of 10 Peruvian children have anemia. After he studied agroindustrial engineering at the University Nacional San Cristobal de Huamanga through a reputable scholarship also known as "Beca 18" which shoulders 100 percent of the costs, this humble engineer tirelessly worked to provide an edible result in a cookie form to combat anemia.

It took 3 years for the Nutri H Cookies to come to completion. Winning the first prize via public vote with 700,000 votes from 135 countries, Garay received a $50,000 cash award.

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Other concepts presented in the contest included a glove functioning to facilitate the life of people who have either total or partly hand disability, an app that can assist users with visual impairments, and complementary research for the early detection of breast cancer.