COVID-19 Nutrition Resources | USAID Advancing Nutrition

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Here you can access a collection of resources related to multi-sectoral nutrition programming and COVID-19. This list will be updated as new resources become available.

If you have additional resources you think would be useful for the community, please send them to us at info@advancingnutrition.org.

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We found 24 resource(s)

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Building the Competency of Health Professionals in the Kyrgyz Republic for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

Klein, Alyssa, Charlotte Block, Adil Mansimov, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, July 2023

Nutrition and Health Systems

In the Kyrgyz Republic, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the implementation of the updated Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative policy and guidance. Gaps in prioritizing, funding, and monitoring breastfeeding counseling and supporting competency building remain. Multi-sectoral advocacy to secure greater commitment and funding within and beyond the health system is critical.

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How COVID-19 Affected Food Systems, Health Service Delivery, and Maternal and Infant Nutrition Practices: Implications for Moving Forward in Kenya

Ahoya, Brenda, Justine A. Kavle, Laura Kiige, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, December 2022

Food Systems
Nutrition and Health Systems

In Kenya, fear of infection and government lockdowns reduces health service uptake, a lack of clear guidance delayed breastfeeding, and increased mother-child separation following delivery among COVID-19-positive women. Unemployment, job loss, increased food prices, and limited social protection measures led pregnant and lactating women to skip meals and reduce the quantity and variety of foods they consumed. Improving maternal and infant nutrition practices requires facility and community health education, psychosocial support, and social protection measures.

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1000 Days of Good Nutrition: In the United States or Abroad, It Is About Equity, Evidence, and Leadership

American Journal of Public Health, October 2022

Knowledge Management

The article discusses the impact of essential nutrient deficiencies before conception and during pregnancy, the importance of creating an enabling environment to support universal breastfeeding, gaps in the U.S. health system, the need for well-designed social protection programs, and the importance of appropriate and timely data.

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How AI Is Transforming Maternal Health Care in Vietnam

Nguyen, L., Council on Foreign Relations, June 2022

Knowledge Management
Nutrition and Health Systems

The Momby app is a virtual assistant that provides nutritional advice and education on fetal development, bonding practices, essential newborn care, and breastfeeding. Users can make health care appointments and ask questions in real time. The app also features a version for fathers. Apps are not a replacement for health staff but offer a way for caregivers to seek out information and for health workers to expand their reach.

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Mom Knows Best: Equipping Mothers in the Kyrgyz Republic with Nutrition Know-How

USAID, July 2022

Knowledge Management

Counseling for parents focuses on optimal nutrition for families through breastfeeding and infant and young child feeding practices. Training sessions cover proper breastfeeding posture, frequency of breastfeeding, and good maternal diet to support infant health.

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USAID Nutrition Report to Congress FY22

USAID, August 2022

Knowledge Management

The report discusses country-specific stunting, wasting, anemia, and breastfeeding gains in the face of COVID-19 shocks and the climate crisis.

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Strengthening Nutrition Interventions in Antenatal Care Services Improved Consumption of Iron-Folic Acid Supplements and Early Breastfeeding Practices in Burkina Faso

Kim, Sunny, Rasmané Ganaba, Purnima Menon, et al. Current Developments in Nutrition, June 2022

Social and Behavior Change and Gender

Strengthening maternal nutrition interventions delivered through government antenatal care services is effective for improving maternal nutrition practices. Continued efforts to strengthen services may be needed for greater behavior change and to address family support, social norms, and other factors that impact maternal diet.

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Evaluation of a Community-Based Mobile Video Breastfeeding Intervention in Khayelitsha, South Africa: The Philani MOVIE Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

Adam, Maya, Jamie Johnston, Nophiwe Job, et al. PLOS Medicine, September 2021

Early Childhood Development

Videos were as effective as face-to-face counseling when community health workers (CHWs) used them to replace a portion of that counseling. mHealth video interventions could be a feasible and practical solution to support the delivery and scaling of community health promotion services when the CHW workforce is limited.

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COVID Vaccines and Breastfeeding: What the Data Say

Nature, June 2021

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

Early research indicates that vaccines do not pass through breast milk—but antibodies do.

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Protecting Nature's Perfect Food System

Dreibelbis, Carol, Blythe Thomas, and Sandy Remancus, Devex, March 2021

Food Systems

In addition to women’s time, energy, capacity, and skill, breastfeeding requires family, health facility, community, employer, and policy support. Sociocultural factors, health care practices and policies, paid leave policies and legislation, a lack of skilled support, and aggressive marketing of breast milk substitutes all impact likelihood of breastfeeding. Greater investments to address these deficiencies will increase economic productivity and reduce health care costs.

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Achieving Health Equity: Providing Skilled Breastfeeding Support Universally

World Health Organization, August 2020

Capacity Strengthening

Global leaders discuss why investment in skilled breastfeeding support is essential to achieving equitable health outcomes. This is a webinar available in Arabic, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

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2021 World Health Day: Improve Global Breastfeeding Practices

La Leche League International and World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, April 2021

Knowledge Management

All actors should take a public health approach to strengthen the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and breastfeeding counseling, including during emergencies; implement maternal social protection that includes paid leave and workplace support in the formal and informal sectors; advocate for greater access to skilled breastfeeding counseling; and reinforce support for breastfeeding dyads by developing appropriate and consistent communication messages.

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Breastfeeding: A Key Investment in Human Capital

Murthi, Mamta, and Meera Shekar, Pediatrics, March 2021

Early Childhood Development

The Human Capital Index (HCI) suggests that, on average, a child born in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to reach only 40 percent of their full earnings potential. Because undernutrition and child mortality rates contribute significantly to the HCI, breastfeeding is a key factor in human capital development. This article is behind a paywall.

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Old Tricks, New Opportunities: How Companies Violate the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes and Undermine Maternal and Child Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ching, Constance, Paul Zambrano, Tuan T. Nguyen, et al. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, March 2021

Companies are using health claims and misinformation about breastfeeding (BF) to capitalize on pandemic fears. Proposed immediate actions include using findings to inform World Health Assembly actions, increasing enforcement of International Code violations, and addressing misinformation about BF in the context of the pandemic. Longer-term actions include holding social media platforms accountable, raising public awareness about the International Code, and mobilizing community monitoring.

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Misalignment of Global COVID-19 Breastfeeding and Newborn Care Guidelines with World Health Organization Recommendations

Vu Hoang, Duong, Jennifer Cashin, Karleen Gribble, et al. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, December 2020

Guidance during the pandemic should weigh risks posed by COVID-19 transmission against the protection provided by skin-to-skin contact, early initiation of breastfeeding, continued breastfeeding, and rooming-in. Recommendations against these practices should not be made without compelling evidence.

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Stakeholder Consultation: U.S. Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan 2.0

USAID Advancing Nutrition, December 2020

Priorities include women’s nutrition before and during pregnancy and lactation, breastfeeding and complementary feeding for ages 0–24 months, management of wasting in children under the age of 5, and micronutrient provision. Emerging issues include COVID-19, obesity, climate, and dietary-related noncommunicable diseases. Maximizing investment impacts of nutrition-related programs and policies and optimizing technical resources are critical. This is a webinar.

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Aligning Best Practices and Addressing Misinformation for Optimal Infant Feeding During the COVID-19 Pandemic

PATH, January 2021

This brief discusses hospital best practices to encourage breastfeeding and ensure lactation success for COVID-19 infected mothers and their newborns. It also addresses whether COVID-19 can be passed from mother to infant at delivery, whether rooming-in and breastfeeding with an infected mother are safe, and whether it is safe to use donor milk during the pandemic.

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A Learning and Sharing “Café”: IYCF Programming Adaptations in the Context of COVID-19 – Second Cafe

The Nutrition Technical Rapid Response Team, August 2020

Social and Behavior Change and Gender

This platform encourages countries to share lessons learned and experiences with adapting infant and young child feeding (IYCF) programs during COVID-19. It provides videos on breastfeeding and complementary feeding, social media content on IYCF, a detailed review of counseling packages for IYCF, and materials focusing on feeding when COVID is suspected or confirmed. Materials are available in French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, and English.

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COVID-19 Nutrition Resources

USAID Advancing Nutrition, August 2020

Food Systems
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

These resources focus on multi-sectoral nutrition programming in the context of COVID-19. Research and reports provide guidance about nutrition in humanitarian contexts, monitoring, evaluation and learning, safe breastfeeding practices for COVID-19 positive women, social and behavior change for nutrition in context of COVID-19, and food security.

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Managing Nutrition Myths and Misconceptions During COVID-19: Technical Brief

Breakthrough ACTION, USAID Advancing Nutrition, July 2020

Social and Behavior Change and Gender

Misinformation has led to unnecessary separation of infants and mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection during delivery and breastfeeding. It has also led to mistrust of the health care system, delayed care-seeking of nutrition services, and limited uptake of COVID-19 preventive practices. Social and behavior change strategies to combat misinformation include having trusted authorities provide consistent communication with current information and thoughtful responses to misinformation, and building media literacy.

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Breastfeeding and COVID-19

World Health Organization, June 2020

Nutrition and Health Systems

The World Health Organization recommends that mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 be encouraged to practice skin-to-skin contact and initiate or continue breastfeeding while practicing infection prevention and control measures. Current data suggest that the health benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the risks of potential infant or child COVID-19 infection. Current data are insufficient to conclude vertical transmission of COVID-19 through breastfeeding.

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When Separation is Not the Answer: Breastfeeding Mothers and Infants Affected by COVID‐19

Tomori, Cecília, Karleen Gribble, Aunchalee E.L. Palmquist, et al. Maternal and Child Nutrition, May 2020

Social and Behavior Change and Gender

Although the World Health Organization has provided comprehensive guidance that promotes continued breastfeeding during COVID-19, this article argues countries that have imposed separation and discouraged or prohibited breastfeeding or provision of expressed breastmilk fail to acknowledge the health and psychological impacts of separation. This article argues that countries have unduly imposed separation between mothers and breastfeeding children, citing the discouragement of breastfeeding or the provision of expressed breastmilk as a failure to acknowledge the health and psychological impacts of separation.

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Infant and Young Child Feeding Recommendations When COVID-19 is Suspected or Confirmed

UNICEF and USAID Advancing Nutrition, April 2020

Early Childhood Development
Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Nutrition and Health Systems
Social and Behavior Change and Gender

WHO and UNICEF advise caregivers and families with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case to continue with their usual infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices while adhering to the recommended hygiene precautions for COVID-19. This package, containing 10 counseling cards and a recommended practices booklet, reflects the latest recommendations for IYCF during the pandemic to help counselors continue to promote proper breastfeeding practices during COVID-19. User-friendly graphics allow counselors to use the cards in low-literacy communities and across various contexts.

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United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition: Resource List on Food Systems and Nutrition Responses

United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN), March 2020

Food Systems
Knowledge Management
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing disruptions to food systems and food environments, a decline in optimal dietary practices could lead to serious impacts on nutritional status. To address this challenge, this curated list provides up-to-date information focused on nutrition and food systems related to COVID-19. Topics include UN agencies’ general response, food systems, pregnancy, breastfeeding, infant and young child feeding, school-age children, adults, non-communicable diseases, and emergency nutrition response. The list also provides useful links to communities of practice, blogs, and initiatives involved in the COVID-19 response.

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