USAID Advancing Nutrition develops, curates, packages, and shares multi-sectoral nutrition knowledge to help you stay on top of developments and evidence in global nutrition programming.
Degree of Exposure to Interventions Influences Maternal and Child Dietary Practices: Evidence from a Large-Scale Multisectoral Nutrition Program
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Nutrition and Health SystemsSocial and Behavior Change and Gender
Suaahara II is a multi-sectoral program created to combat the high prevalence of maternal and child malnutrition in Nepal. Looking at cross-sectional data from an annual monitoring survey, this review analyzes the association between exposure to Suaahara II and dietary diversity, focusing on three behavior change intervention platforms.
Commonly Applied Social-Behavior Change Techniques Used in Complementary Feeding Programs in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Scoping Review
Nutrition and Health SystemsSocial and Behavior Change and Gender
An examination of literature on complementary feeding interventions in lower- and middle-income countries since 2000, this scoping review considered 64 behavior change interventions. Across the interventions, authors identified 28 out of a possible 93 behavior change techniques (BCTs), estimating effectiveness ratios for each.
Guidance for Assessing Resilience in Market Systems
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Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Resilience has become a high-level objective for many nutrition projects. Though most resilience guidance focuses on the household or community, population-level resilience is heavily reliant on the strength and functionality of market systems through periods of shock or stress.
Twin Peaks: The Seasonality of Acute Malnutrition, Conflict, and Environmental Factors
Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
According to a long-held assumption about the seasonality of food security in Chad, Sudan, and South Sudan, the peak of malnutrition happens at the end of the lean season. This report finds that there are actually two peaks, with the worst occurring at the end of the dry season and a smaller peak at the end of the lean season.
Transfers, Nutrition Programming, and Economic Well-being: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh
Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Little research has been conducted on how leveraging cash transfers with nutrition interventions could impact household economic well-being. This study examined a program in Bangladesh that offered impoverished women transfers of cash and food with and without nutrition behavior change communication.
“System of Hunger”: Understanding Causal Disaster Vulnerability of Indigenous Food Systems
Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Indigenous food systems are vulnerable to hazards that cause food insecurity. In indigenous contexts, particular care needs to be taken to account for unique cultural and social systems.
Nutrition in Africa’s Drylands: A Conceptual Framework for Addressing Acute Malnutrition (Draft)
Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
East Africa and the Sahel’s drylands present a unique context for implementation. Regime instability, climate change, and shifts in traditional pastoral ways of life mean that stakeholders need a new way to view these regions. This brief examines and expands upon UNICEF’s malnutrition causal framework to respond to these changing circumstances.
Maternal Nutrition Operational Guidance Program Considerations for Low- and Middle-Income Countries
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Nutrition and Health Systems
Developed by USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program, this practical guidance document is meant to help ministries of health, nongovernmental organizations, and implementing partners working in low- and middle-income countries design, implement, and strengthen the delivery of maternal nutrition interventions during
Impact on Child Acute Malnutrition of Integrating a Preventive Nutrition Package into Facility-Based Screening for Acute Malnutrition during Well-Baby Consultation: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in Burkina Faso
Nutrition and Health SystemsSocial and Behavior Change and Gender
Community management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) is an effective approach for treating acute malnutrition (AM), but low (50 percent) screening levels for AM impede effectiveness of CMAM. Scaling up screening coverage to 90 percent of acutely malnourished children could save 435,000 lives per year.
Facility‐ and Community‐based Delivery of Micronutrient Powders in Uganda: Opening the Black Box of Implementation Using Mixed Methods
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Nutrition and Health SystemsSocial and Behavior Change and Gender
The authors of this study sought to fill a gap in the documentation of lessons learned in micronutrient powder (MNP) implementation programs. To do so, they used a mixed method evaluation to compare community- and facility-based delivery of MNP and document users’ experiences.
Child-Sensitive WASH Composite Score and the Nutritional Status in Cambodian Children
Nutrition and Health Systems
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.
If You Can't Measure It, You Can't Improve It: Experiences and Insights on Social Norms Measurement
Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningSocial and Behavior Change and Gender
Experts from Drexel University, CARE USA, UNICEF, and Emory University presented an overview on the state of social norms measures, building on the recently published guide titled Resources for Measuring Social Norms: A Practical Guide for Implementers.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019: Safeguarding against Economic Slowdowns and Downturns
Nutrition in Humanitarian ContextsKnowledge ManagementMonitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
The 2019 edition of this annual report indicates that the number of people who suffer from hunger, overweight, and obesity continues to rise, while many people also experience moderate food insecurity. New evidence linking economic downturns to food insecurity and malnutrition is highlighted.
Innovations and Tools in Child Growth Measurement and Data Visualization
Knowledge Management
Making the case for why we need better tools to measure child growth, this publication presents promising technological interventions. It also outlines major challenges to reliable and accurate measurement and discusses the pros and cons of tools that might both address these challenges and aid in data visualization.
The Changing Face of Malnutrition: The State of the World’s Children 2019
Food SystemsKnowledge ManagementMonitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
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.
The authoring organizations of this report foresee significant changes to Asia’s food and agricultural landscapes, with food spending expected to increase by around 7 percent per year over the next decade.
Progress in Reducing Child Mortality and Stunting in India: An Application of the Lives Saved Tool
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
The Lives Saved Tool (LiST) enables policymakers and technical stakeholders to estimate the impact of scaling up intervention coverage on undernutrition and mortality.
Drivers of Under-Five Stunting Trend in 14 Low- and Middle-Income Countries since the Turn of the Millennium: A Multilevel Pooled Analysis of 50 Demographic and Health Surveys
Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningSocial and Behavior Change and Gender
Analyzing data from 50 Demographic and Health Surveys in 14 different countries since 2000, the authors of this study sought to detect trends in stunting and potential contributing factors. Their research found a decreasing trend in stunting among all countries.
The Burden of Child and Maternal Malnutrition and Trends in Its Indicators in the States of India: The Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017
Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningNutrition and Health Systems
To inform subnational nutrition actions in India, researchers analyzed the burden of disease due to malnutrition and trends in malnutrition indicators from 1990 to 2017 in every Indian state as part of Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. Examining trends in relation to
Food System Transformations: National Actions in a Globalized World
Food Systems
As global and regional events contribute to the rapid transformation of food systems in developing countries, country actors are playing an essential role in shaping the future of their own food systems.