Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Approaches to Nutrition:
NUTRITION-SPECIFIC AND NUTRITION-
SENSITIVE INTERVENTIONS TO
ACCELERATE PROGRESS
The case for investing in nutrition is clear. Poor nutrition during the first
1,000 days—from pregnancy through a child’s second birthday—can
cause life-long and irreversible damage, with consequences at the
individual, community, and national level.
When a child is malnourished during the first 1,000 days of life, it results in a weaker
immune system and a higher risk of severe infectious diseases, including diarrhoea
and pneumonia.1,2 As undernourished children become adults, they are more likely to
suffer from chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease,
and obesity.3,4 These health impacts have devastating consequences for social and
economic outcomes. Poorly nourished children are more likely to complete fewer
years of school and have lower productivity as adults, including 10 percent lower
earnings over their lifetime.4,5
When multiplied across an entire nation, it is estimated that poor nutrition can reduce
a nation’s economic advancement by at least 8 percent due to direct productivity
losses, and losses due to reduced schooling and poorer cognition.6
By improving nutrition, we can build human capital and fuel economic growth for
generations to come. However, nutrition’s full impact can only be unleashed when all
sectors do their part—as shown in the UNICEF conceptual framework below.
Intergenerational
Consequences
Long-Term Consequences
Short-Term Consequences
Cognitive development, health,
Mortality, morbidity, disability
economic productivity
u Social welfare: Efforts to lift poor families out of poverty are undermined
unless good nutrition is part of the investment. When social protection
programmes become nutrition-sensitive, they can improve diet quantity,
quality, and diversity; decrease vulnerability to food insecurity; decrease
child mortality; and help children reach their full potential.10,11,12,13
Key findings from The 2013 Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition show
that nutrition-sensitive programmes in agriculture, social welfare, early child
development, and schooling can be successful at addressing several underlying
determinants of nutrition. Once there is consensus for a multi-sectoral approach,
we can begin to tackle all the causes of malnutrition in a coordinated and
synergistic way.
u Target key audiences for nutrition information, including the poor, who have
the highest malnutrition rates.
➤ Protection
Social ➤ washing and vaccinations,
can help prevent diseases like
+
diarrhoea and pneumonia — the
Agriculture biggest killers of children in the
Health Asia and Pacific region.14
Improved
➤
Nutrition
➤
Women’s Development
Empowerment & Poverty
Reduction
Education
➤ ➤
By improving nutrition, we
can build human capital and
fuel economic growth for
generations to come.
Sources
1. The Lancet, (2008). Maternal and Child Undernutrition, Special Series, 371.
2. The Lancet, (2003). Child Survival, Special Series, 361.
3. Thomas, D., & Strauss, J., (1997). Health and wages: evidence on men and women in urban Brazil, Journal of Econometrics, 77, 159-85.
4. Hunt, J. M., (2005). The potential impact of reducing global malnutrition on poverty reduction and economic development, Asia Pacific Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, 14, 10-38.
5. Horton, S., (1999). Opportunities for investments in nutrition in low-income Asia, Asian Development Review, 17(1,2), 246–273.
6. Horton, S., & Steckel, R. H., (2013). Global economic losses attributable to malnutrition 1990— 2000 and projections to 2050. In: Lomborg, B. How
much have global problems cost the world? A scorecard from 1900 to 2050, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
7. Alderman, H., & Ruel, M., (2013). Nutrition-sensitive Interventions and Programmes: How Can They Help to Accelerate Progress in Improving Maternal
and Child Nutrition?, The Lancet, 382, 536-551.
8. Bundy, D., et al., (2009). Rethinking School Feeding: Social Safety Nets, Child Development and the Education Sector, World Food Programme and the
World Bank.
9. IOB, (2011). Lessons learnt: Synthesis of literature on the effectiveness of investment in education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherland, IOB
Evaluation, The Hague, Netherlands, (355).
10. DFID, (2009). The neglected crisis of undernutrition: Evidence for action, UKAID from the Department for International Development, London, U.K.
11. Gilligan, D., et al., (2008). The Impact of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme and its Linkages, IFPRI, Washington, D.C.
12. Freeland, N., & Cherrier, C., (2012). Social Transfers in the Fight Against Hunger A Resource for Development Practitioners, Tools and Methods Series
Reference Document, European Commission.
13. Rasella, D., et al., (2013). Effect of a conditional cash transfer programme on childhood mortality: a nationwide analysis of Brazilian municipalities, The
Lancet.
14. UNICEF, (2012). Pneumonia and diarrhoea: tackling the deadliest diseases for the world’s poorest children, New York.
15. Bhutta, Z., et al., (2013). Evidence based interventions for improving maternal and child nutrition: What can be done and at what cost?, The Lancet,
382, 452-477.
16. The World Bank, (2013). Improving Nutrition through Multi-Sectoral Approaches, Washington, D.C.
This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union, as part of the Maternal and Young Child Nutrition Security Initiative in Asia (MYCNSIA). The views expressed
herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
For more information on this and other partnerships of UNICEF and the EU, please go to www.unicef.org/eu