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.
Effects of Engaging Fathers and Bundling Nutrition and Parenting Interventions on Household Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Rural Tanzania: Results from EFFECTS, a Five-Arm Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial
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Early Childhood DevelopmentChild NutritionGenderMaternal Nutrition
Engaging fathers and bundling nutrition and parenting programs impacted gender attitudes, the frequency of communication between parents, and women's dietary diversity.
Adolescent NutritionAnemiaBehavior Change for NutritionComplementary FeedingMaternal NutritionMicronutrient Interventions
From fiscal year 2021, USAID Advancing Nutrition is undertaking an activity to reduce the prevalence of anemia caused by iron deficiency among women of reproductive age and adolescents and vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among children under five in the Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced (RISE) II zones of intervention.
In 2021, Emergency Nutrition Network conducted a prioritization exercise to help set out a 10-year research agenda to support child and adolescent nutrition (5–19 years of age) in low- and middle-income countries.
UNICEF examines the current status, trends, and inequities in the nutritional status of adolescent girls and women of reproductive age (15–49 years of age). The report considers the barriers adolescents face in accessing nutritious diets, essential nutrition services, and positive nutrition and care practices.
Nutrition Integration for the Children with Special Needs: A Facilitator’s Guide for Food Security, Nutrition, Livelihoods and Disability Inclusion Project Staffs
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BreastfeedingInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
This training supports the integration of disability inclusion into nutrition programming by providing information on the nutritional concerns of children with disabilities.
Primary Health Care Integration Landscape Analysis: Literature Review Findings
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Nutrition and Health SystemsChild NutritionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
This literature review synthesizes information about the current integration of immunization and primary health care services in low- and middle-income countries. Some facilities have also integrated nutrition services into reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health or immunization services.
The Business Case for Social and Behavior Change for Breastfeeding and Complementary Feeding
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Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningBreastfeedingComplementary FeedingMaternal Nutrition
Modeling found that social and behavior change (SBC) interventions for breastfeeding and complementary feeding are highly cost-effective to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with undernutrition, especially in areas with higher mortality. Future research should explore social norms around breastfeeding and complementary feeding and the cost-effectiveness of SBC for women’s nutrition.
Benefits of Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements for Child Nutrition and Survival Warrant Moving to Scale
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Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningNutrition in Humanitarian ContextsAnemiaBreastfeedingChild NutritionComplementary FeedingInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionMicronutrient InterventionsNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements are a highly cost-effective intervention to reduce relative risk of mortality, severe wasting and stunting, iron deficiency anemia, and developmental delay between 6 and 23 months of age.
Strengthening Organizational Capacity: Lessons Learned From MOMENTUM
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Capacity StrengtheningChild NutritionCOVID-19Infant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionWater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Case studies in this report share learning from Kenya, Mozambique, and Uganda on how MOMENTUM strengthens the capacity of partner organizations. Recommendations share how to increase organizational capacity to foster self-determination, produce sustainable results, align systems for agility, and attract and sustain support.
Investing in Nutrition—A Global Best Investment Case
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Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningWastingComplementary FeedingInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionMicronutrient Interventions
Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation and complementary feeding promotion (CFP) for children 6−23 months of age reduced premature births, low birth weight, and stillbirths. The benefit-cost ratio was lowest for CFP for children in the three lowest socio-economic status quintiles due to the high cost of accomplishing behavior change in these households.
Frontline Nutrition Services: Roles, Responsibilities, and Pre-Service Training
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Capacity StrengtheningAdolescent NutritionBreastfeedingGrowth Monitoring and PromotionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
Findings identify competencies that pre-service curricula may not currently address and provide a roadmap to develop tailored, country- and cadre-specific updates to policies, protocols, pre-service training curricula, job descriptions, qualifications, and certification tools.
Reducing Inequities in Maternal and Child Health in Rural Guatemala Through the CBIO+ Approach of Curamericas: Paper 4. Nutrition-Related Activities and Changes in Childhood Stunting, Wasting, and Underweight
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Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningNutrition and Health SystemsChild NutritionGrowth Monitoring and PromotionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
In Guatemala, the inclusion of care groups and community birthing centers in the Census-Based, Impact-Oriented Approach intervention produced a decline in the prevalence of stunting and measures of undernutrition in children under age two compared with the control group. Authors call for the broader application and further evaluation of this approach.
Maternal Hemoglobin Concentrations Across Pregnancy and Child Health and Development From Birth Through 6–7 Years
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Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningMaternal Nutrition
In this study, maternal hemoglobin (Hb) trajectories during pregnancy were associated with child Hb concentrations in the first 1,000 days but not with birth outcomes or later cognitive functioning. Authors call for additional research to understand and interpret changes in Hb levels during pregnancy, especially in resource-poor settings.
Knowledge ManagementAnemiaBreastfeedingChild NutritionCOVID-19Infant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionMicronutrient InterventionsNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)Private-Sector Engagement
Strengthening nutrition governance, elevating local voices and experiences, sharing evidence, promoting capacity strengthening and advocacy, and maximizing the reach of USAID Advancing Nutrition’s work are critical to sustain nutrition outcomes. The global nutrition community must strengthen coordination and collaboration to meet and sustain global goals.
Analyses found that a package combining increased family planning services with basic emergency obstetric and newborn care produces the highest benefit-cost ratio. Authors estimate that this package will require an additional US$3.2 billion per year and will deliver benefits worth US$278 billion per year in avoided deaths and higher economic growth.
Fighting Malnutrition in Ghana: How Health Workers Are Leading the Charge
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Knowledge ManagementAnemiaBreastfeedingChild NutritionGrowth Monitoring and PromotionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal NutritionNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
Training helps health workers integrate malnutrition screening and treatment into comprehensive primary health care services, conduct home visits to follow up with children being treated for malnutrition, and provide nutrition services to pregnant and breastfeeding women to prevent further childhood malnutrition.
Frontline Nutrition Services: Roles, Responsibilities, and Pre-Service Training
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Capacity StrengtheningGrowth Monitoring and PromotionInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
A skilled workforce is critical for the provision of nutrition services at the frontline or primary care level and, ultimately, achieving better health outcomes.
Describes the project's work in 12 municipalities of Honduras to address nutrition challenges through a systems approach. USAID Advancing Nutrition aims to improve the quality of diets to reduce malnutrition in at least 10,000 households.
Integrating Nutrition-Specific Interventions into a Polio Immunization Platform
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderMaternal Nutrition
Integrating nutrition into the polio immunization platform is feasible and cost-effective, does not hinder immunization coverage rates, and may improve nutrition behaviors.
Focusing on Social Norms: A Practical Guide for Nutrition Programmers to Improve Women’s and Children’s Diets
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Social and Behavior Change and GenderChild NutritionGenderInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Maternal Nutrition
This guide provides insights on how to identify social and gender norms that influence dietary practices, to improve norm-responsive programming, and to monitor and measure shifts in norms. The guide includes worksheets and a social norms checklist.