widely accepted, standardized, and powerful measures of
nutrition impact.
Coordinate action around country-led strategies: From
Burkina Faso to Guatemala, many countries are designing comprehensive food and nutrition security plans to
guide investments and interventions. Developing countries should be supported in their efforts to design national strategies with assurance that international donors
will provide sustained support. These strategies should
base action on evidence and include space and flexibility to adjust policies and program designs based on new
information gained from research and experimentation.
For their part, international donors, the United States included, must coordinate their aid activities to ensure that
long-term and appropriate aid resources are available.
will not be sustainable. A network of experts can also
help communicate best practices and success stories in
nutrition and contribute to building a policy framework
at the national and international levels. Assisting in the
design of training curricula, supporting postsecondary
educational opportunities, and facilitating international
cooperation and communication among nutrition experts is critical to building capacity and achieving greater
consistency among efforts to improve nutrition.
Ensure coherence across development activities and other
developed country policies. There are many U.S. policies
outside development that can impact nutrition. Trade and
agriculture policies that hurt smallholder farmers in developing countries, for example, can increase or perpetuate poverty. Intellectual property rights that restrict access
to needed technologies can make it more difficult to pursue key health interventions. The United States must take
a “whole of government” approach to its global nutrition,
food security, and agriculture development objectives.
New evidence about what works makes it clear that we
can substantially reduce malnutrition, especially during
pregnancy and in the early years of life. Not only would more
children survive infancy, but by preventing or aggressively
treating malnutrition during the first two years of life, these
children would grow up to be healthier, more productive
adults. What is needed is concerted global attention and
action along with sustained commitment of resources.
As the world struggles to recover from the devastating
impact of the food and financial crisis, renewed commitments
to investment in agriculture and food security present an
opportunity to tackle maternal and child malnutrition. This
opportunity should not be wasted. Both from a moral and
an economic standpoint, this may be the best time for the
world to focus on the enormous price that the international
community pays by failing to address malnutrition.
Endnotes
Margaret W. Nea
1 G8
(2009) L’Aquila Joint Statement on Global Food Security.
D., et. al. (2009) “Levels and Trends in Under-5 Mortality, 19902008” The Lancet.
3 Victora, C.G., et. al. (2008) “Maternal and Child Undernutrition:
Consequences for Adult Health and Human Capital” The Lancet.
4 Ibid.
5 Levenstein, H. (2003) Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern
America.
6 Kennedy, E. (1999) “Public Policy in Nutrition: The U.S. Nutrition
Safety Net—Past, Present, and Future” Food Policy.
7 USDA. WIC at a Glance. http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/aboutwic/
wicataglance.htm. Accessed September MK