The Changing Face of Malnutrition: The State of the World’s Children 2019
UNICEF, October 2019
- Food Systems
- Knowledge Management
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
This year, UNICEF’s flagship report focuses on children, food, and nutrition, providing new data and analysis on malnutrition and making recommendations for keeping food systems anchored in children’s rights. Examining the “triple burden” of malnutrition—undernutrition, hidden hunger, and overweight—the report describes the “broken food system” at the center of the problem and the economic costs of malnutrition. It is accompanied by regional briefs and an interactive web feature.
Characteristics Associated with the Transition to Partial Breastfeeding Prior to 6 Months of Age: Data from Seven Sites in a Birth Cohort Study
Richard, Stephanie A., Benjamin J. J. McCormick, Laura E. Murray-Kolb, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, March 2021
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Research Articles
A higher weight-for-length of the child, recent coughing, and food insecurity were associated with slower transition to partial breastfeeding, while a higher maternal depressive symptom score was associated with earlier transition to partial breastfeeding. Further research is needed to understand the relationships between local perceptions of infant body size and decisions about breastfeeding.
Characteristics of Food Environments that Influence Food Acquisition and Diets of Women in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review Protocol
O'Meara, Lydia, Julia de Bruyn, Paula Dominguez-Salas, et al. JBI Evidence Synthesis, June 2023
- Food Systems
Research Articles
This protocol focuses on identifying and mapping characteristics of food environments that influence food acquisition practices and dietary intake among women of reproductive age, especially pre-conception, during pregnancy, and while breastfeeding.
Characteristics and Outcomes of Neonatal SARS-CoV-2 Infection in the UK: A Prospective National Cohort Study Using Active Surveillance
Gale, Chris, Maria A. Quigley, Anna Placzek, et al. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, November 2020
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Research Articles
This study, conducted among babies with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first 28 days of life who received inpatient care, found that infection following birth to a mother with perinatal SARS-CoV-2 infection was unlikely, and vertical transmission rare. This supports current international guidance to avoid separation of mother and baby.
Charting a Path Towards Local Capacity Strengthening: Systems and Tools for Mapping and Planning
Data for Impact, USAID MOMENTUM, September 2023
- Capacity Strengthening
Events
Speakers discuss tools that catalyze, assess, and monitor local organizational-level capacity strengthening as outlined in USAID’s Local Capacity Strengthening Policy. This is a webinar with simultaneous interpretation in French.
Child Alert: Severe Wasting
UNICEF, May 2022
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Reports and Tools
Donors should fully fund the scale-up of early prevention and treatment, provide multi-year funding, and ensure that budgets include ready-to-use therapeutic food allocations. Governments should integrate early prevention and treatment programs into national primary health and nutrition care systems and services—and protect child nutrition investments from budget cuts. The report is available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish. Two webinars accompany the report.
Child Diet and Mother–Child Interactions Mediate Intervention Effects on Child Growth and Development
Bliznashka, Lilia, Dana C. McCoy, Saima Siyal, et al. Maternal and Child Nutrition, April 2022
- Early Childhood Development
Research Articles
Child diet and mother–child interactions improved children's cognitive, language, and motor development and had indirect effects on socio-emotional development. Leveraging these interactions may improve intervention effects on child outcomes.
Child Food Poverty: A Nutrition Crisis in Early Childhood
UNICEF, October 2022
- Knowledge Management
Reports and Tools
This brief and accompanying database provides detailed country-specific data about children experiencing food poverty and severe food poverty and discusses how metrics have changed over time.
Child Health Redesign
The BMJ, March 2021
Research Articles
Greater understanding of the interconnectedness of maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health led the World Health Organization and UNICEF to shift away from an exclusive focus on under-5 survival and toward an integrated ecological life course perspective. Authors call for greater integration of disability in children and adolescents into the global health agenda.
Child Health Task Force Resource Library
Child Health Task Force, June 2021
Reports and Tools
This database hosts documents from agencies and organizations working on child health programming. Resources include journal articles, presentations, webinars, tools, and event materials.
Child Malnutrition in Afghanistan Amid a Deepening Humanitarian Crisis
Rahmat, Zainab Syyeda, Hania Mansoor Rafi, Arsalan Nadeem, et al. International Health, September 2022
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Research Articles
Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, more than 3.3 million children are unable to afford basic food resources and the majority of the population faces starvation. Restrictions on humanitarian assistance, the withholding of vital food supplies, and inadequate medical care exacerbate malnutrition among vulnerable children. Greater global engagement is critical.
Child Nutrition in Disaster: A Scoping Review
Adeoya, Akindele Abimibayo, Hiroyuki Sasaki, Mikiko Fuda, et al. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, February 2022
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Research Articles
To ensure that children receive nutrition support in disaster to prevent malnutrition, this study recommends an explicit and well-coordinated approach that includes preparedness; advocacy; policy development; periodic nutritional assessments and nutritional support; and nutrition education for children, families, and aid workers. Research should examine food allergies in children and how nutrition impacts child mental health.
Child-Sensitive WASH Composite Score and the Nutritional Status in Cambodian Children
Manzoni, G., A. Laillou, C. Samnang, et al. Nutrients. September 2019. Vol. 11 No. 9
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Research Articles
Despite progress in health over the years in Cambodia, the number of malnourished children remains high, which may be associated in part with poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practices. To address gaps in knowledge on the association between WASH practices and the nutritional status of children, this study analyzed the relationship between WASH child-sensitive composite scores and the wasting child anthropometry indicators. The authors found a significant association, reinforcing existing knowledge of the need to align WASH and nutrition practices.
Childcare Solutions: Changing Fathers’ Attitudes and Involvement in Care and Early Childhood Education
World Bank Group, April 2021
Events
Incentivizing fathers’ involvement in child-bearing practices can help ensure that children get appropriate care and can help facilitate higher female labor force participation. Speakers discuss policy interventions to influence engagement through behavioral approaches. This is a webinar.
Children Born during the Hunger Season are at a Higher Risk of Severe Acute Malnutrition: Findings from a Guinea Sahelian Ecological Zone in Northern Ghana
Nonterah, Engelbert A., Paul Welaga, Samuel T. Chatio, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, January 2022
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Research Articles
Children born in the hunger season and with low birth weight are at higher risk of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Being female and of the Nankam ethno-linguistic group also increased the odds of SAM. A sustainable food supply to pregnant and lactating women through improved agriculture or food system change targeting the hunger season may reduce SAM.
Children Living with Disabilities Are Neglected in Severe Malnutrition Protocols: A Guideline Review
Engl, Magdalena, Paul Binns, Indi Trehan, et al. BMJ Journals, February 2022
- Early Childhood Development
Research Articles
Few international and national guidelines have detailed discussions of the specific needs of children living with disabilities, and only one mentioned strategies during nutritional emergencies. Interviews identified barriers related to medical complexity, resource constraints, epidemiology, and integration with existing guidelines and pointed to the need for better evidence to identify and integrate these children into nutrition programs.
Children’s and Adolescents’ Rising Animal-Source Food Intakes in 1990–2018 Were Impacted by Age, Region, Parental Education, and Urbanicity
Miller, Victoria, Patrick Webb, Frederick Cudhea, et al. Nature Food, April 2023
- Food Systems
Research Articles
Data from 185 countries indicated that mean animal-source foods (ASF) intake was 1.9 servings per day. Intake was similar between boys and girls but higher among urban children with educated parents. Consumption varied by age from 0.6 servings for children under age 1 to 2.5 servings per day for those ages 15–19. Between 1990 and 2018, mean ASF intake increased by 0.5 servings per week in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa.
Chronic Iron Deficiency and Cognitive Function in Early Childhood
Gingoyon, Argie, Cornelia M. Borkhoff, Christine Koroshegyi, et al. Pediatrics, November 2022
- Early Childhood Development
Research Articles
After receiving oral iron, children with chronic iron deficiency demonstrated improved iron status, but continued to have lower cognitive scores compared with children with initial iron sufficiency. Future research could examine outcomes of a screening strategy for the early detection of iron deficiency using serum ferritin. This article is behind a paywall.
Civic Engagement is Creating a More Equitable Health System in Timor-Leste
USAID Learning Lab, June 2023
- Capacity Strengthening
Reports and Tools
To bridge the gap between communities and the health system and reduce health disparities, USAID is supporting a health network of civil society organizations to identify health system problems and solutions, effectively engage with the Ministry of Health, and participate in monitoring to hold the government accountable.
CLA in the Time of COVID-19: Adapting, Pivoting and Partnering to Maintain Nutrition Progress
United States Agency for International Development Learning Lab, October 2020
- Knowledge Management
Reports and Tools
The USAID framework for Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting supports partners to adapt during unanticipated challenges using real-time evidence. This blog post describes how USAID Advancing Nutrition used the CLA framework to create an internal COVID-19 task force and working groups that monitored and disseminated emerging information, synthesized best practices for virtual engagement, developed guidance for remote data collection, and helped project teams develop new skillsets to support quick pivots in operational and technical work in response to the pandemic.
The Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis
UNICEF, August 2021
- Early Childhood Development
Reports and Tools
The Children’s Climate Risk Index measures the likelihood that climate and environmental shocks or stresses will lead to the erosion of development progress, the deepening of deprivation, and humanitarian crises affecting children or vulnerable households and groups. The document is available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. The executive summary is available in Hausa, Portuguese, Somali, Swahili, and Yoruba.
Climate Crisis and Nutrition: Examples from Niger
USAID, November 2021
- Knowledge Management
Reports and Tools
USAID Chief Nutritionist Shawn Baker describes the Wadata program, which provides hands-on training in natural resource management, nutrition, food preparation with local ingredients, financial literacy, and interpersonal communication. Priority issues for nutrition and climate change include accelerating action to safeguard and improve nutrition of mothers and children; supporting food systems actions that reduce environmental impact while protecting and improving access to safe, affordable, and nutritious food; and supporting climate policies that reduce inequities caused by climate change.
The Climate-Nutrition Paradox and Unintended Consequences
Agrilinks, July 2023
- Food Systems
Reports and Tools
Programs must consider unintended consequences of introducing climate-smart agriculture to ensure that marginalized and underrepresented groups are not left more vulnerable to poor nutrition and food insecurity.
A Cluster-Randomized Trial to Test Sharing Histories as a Training Method for Community Health Workers in Peru
Altobelli, Laura C., José Cabrejos-Pita, Mary Penny, et al. Global Health: Science and Practice, December 2020
Research Articles
The Sharing Histories training method, whereby community health workers (CHWs) recount their own childbearing and childrearing experiences, improved CHW effectiveness with literate mothers in reducing stunting. Stunting among children of illiterate mothers may have involved unaddressed determinants of stunting. The abstract is available in Spanish.