Scoping Review of Intervention Strategies for Improving Coverage and Uptake of Maternal Nutrition Services in Southeast Asia
Kurian, Kauma, Theophilus Lakiang, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, et al. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, December 2021
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Research Articles
This review recommends diverse strategies and delivery mechanisms, including health education, supplementation, community participation, and robust health system responses to achieve effective maternal nutrition programs.
Seasonal Variation in the Association between Household Food Insecurity and Child Undernutrition in Bangladesh: Mediating Role of Child Dietary Diversity
Hasan, Md. Mehedi, Abdul Kader, Chowdhury Abdullah Al Asif, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, December 2022
- Food Systems
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Research Articles
Children in food-insecure households are more likely to have poor nutrition and to be stunted, wasted, and underweight than those in food-secure households. Dietary diversity mediates the relationship between food insecurity and undernutrition but its impact varies seasonally. Seasonality and dietary diversity should be considered when designing population-level food-based interventions.
Seasonal Variation in Maternal Dietary Diversity is Reduced by Small-Scale Irrigation Practices: A Longitudinal Study
Kaleab, Dawit Mekonnen, Jowel Choufani, et al. Maternal & Child Nutrition, December 2021
- Food Systems
Research Articles
In observed areas of rural Ethiopia, where women experienced high seasonal variation in their diets and energy intakes, their dietary diversity was low. This could be partly offset by adopting irrigation practices.
Seasonality of Diet Costs Reveals Food System Performance in East Africa
Bai, Yan, Elena N. Naumova, William A. Masters. Science Advances, December 2020
Research Articles
The costs of maintaining diets that meet nutrient requirements fluctuate seasonally and point to the need for more targeted investments to improve the year-round delivery of nutrients.
Seat at the Table: A Devex Dish Event
Devex, April 2022
- Food Systems
Events
Discussions include the role of foreign policy in ending global malnutrition, effective financial investment in food systems reform, the relationship between food systems reform and climate change, and the importance of understanding the links between conflict and food security. This is a webinar.
Seen, Counted, Included: Using Data to Shed Light on the Well-Being of Children with Disabilities
UNICEF, November 2021
- Early Childhood Development
Reports and Tools
When absent from official statistics, children and adults with disabilities remain politically and socially invisible, which increases marginalization and potential rights violations. This report discusses nutrition and health, access to water and sanitation, protection from violence and exploitation, and education indicators and includes the first-ever global and regional estimates of children with disabilities.
Seizing Opportunity from the Jaws of Crisis: A Playbook for Nutrition
International Food Policy Research Institute, December 2020
Events
Keynote speaker Ellen Piwoz argues that data and evidence to spur action and investment are critical but insufficient to stimulate broad-based action and enduring change. Greater investment in people and institutions, innovative financing models, more emphasis on putting evidence into action, an embrace of the multi-sectoral nature of nutrition, and greater agility during the pandemic are required. This is a webinar.
The Sensitivity of Anthropometric Estimates to Errors in the Measurement of Height, Weight, and Age for Children Under Five in Population-Based Surveys
The Demographic and Health Surveys Program, August 2020
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
Height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ) scores for children under 5 years are based on a transformation of height, weight, and age into bivariate relationships. This report aims to improve understanding of how changes in these measurements can induce changes in the means and standard deviations of HAZ, WAZ, and WHZ, as well as stunting, wasting, underweight, and overweight estimates. Data from Peru and Nepal were used because of their different nutritional profiles and evidence of good data quality.
Series on Adolescent Nutrition
The Lancet, November 2021
- Nutrition and Health Systems
Reports and Tools
Adolescents have been neglected in national and global nutrition plans and policies. This series highlights the effect of nutrition on adolescent growth and development, the role of the food environment on food choices, and strategies and interventions that may lead to healthy nutrition and growth.
Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition Progress
The Lancet, March 2021
Research Articles
Three new papers build upon findings from the 2008 and 2013 Series. They conclude that despite modest progress, maternal and child undernutrition remains a major global health concern. Previously highlighted interventions, especially those delivered within the first 1,000 days of life, effectively reduce stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, and child deaths, but program delivery has lagged behind the science and greater financing is needed to scale up proven interventions.
Sex, Lies, and Surveys: The Role of Interviewer Characteristics
World Bank Group, February 2019
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Reports and Tools
Girls are more likely to report sexual activity to better-looking interviewers and less likely to do so with interviewers holding more discriminatory gender attitudes and greater expectations of the intervention. The study found no evidence that interviewer gender matters.
Sex- and Gender-Based Analysis (SGBA): A Toolkit for Nutrition Programs
Nutrition International, July 2021
Reports and Tools
This resource is grounded in the belief that gender equality and improved nutrition are mutually reinforcing, a woman’s status is interconnected with her nutritional status, and addressing underlying gendered barriers and constraints will improve nutritional outcomes. It provides guidance to help nutrition programs use analytical frameworks, develop partnerships supportive of gender equality objectives, create gender action plans, and recruit gender equality expertise.
Shaping Food Environments to Support Sustainable Healthy Diets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Kumar, Shalander, Abhishek Das, Kavitha Kasala, et al. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, June 2023
- Food Systems
Research Articles
Researchers prioritize developing a comprehensive structural framework to facilitate understanding of interactions among different domains; generating comprehensive and reliable data; and developing evidence-based, actionable policies.
Sick Child Feeding Practice and Associated Factors Among Mothers of Children Less Than 24 Months Old, in Burayu Town, Ethiopia
Degefa, Nega, Hiwot Tadesse, Fekadu Aga, et al. International Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 2019, December 2019
- Nutrition and Health Systems
- Social and Behavior Change and Gender
Research Articles
It is important to optimize infant and young child feeding (IYCF), especially in the first 2 years of life, if a child is to develop to his or her full potential. Researchers conducted this study to assess IYCF practices among mothers with children under 24 months of age in Burayu Town, Ethiopia. The authors concluded that while breastfeeding counseling had a positive impact on IYCF practices, there is room for improvement in feeding practices during and after times of common childhood illnesses.
A Simple Fruit and Vegetable Score is a Valid Tool to Assess Actual Fruit and Vegetable Intake
Pastori, Giulia, Inge D. Brouwer, Edith J.M. Feskens, et al. British Journal of Nutrition, May 2023
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Research Articles
The Diet Quality Questionnaire is a low-burden, low-cost, and simple tool to calculate the fruit and vegetable component of the Global Dietary Recommendation score and to monitor fruit and vegetable consumption at the population level. This article is behind a paywall.
Simple Solutions for Complex Problems? What is Missing in Agriculture for Nutrition Interventions
Hambloch, Caroline, Kai Mausch, Costanza Conti, et al. Food Security, November 2022
- Food Systems
Research Articles
There is insufficient evidence on the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of nutrition-sensitive value chains and crop biofortification on nutritional outcomes. New evaluation frameworks and approaches that acknowledge the social, political, economic, and environmental factors and drivers of malnutrition and poverty are important.
Situational Analysis of Early Childhood Care and Development Services in Ghana
USAID Advancing Nutrition, July 2022
- Early Childhood Development
Reports and Tools
Study recommendations include strengthening responsive care, early learning, safety and security counseling and support services, and services and support to children with disabilities and their families. Providing tools and processes for routine identification, support, and referral of caregiver mental health issues—and improving workforce competencies—are also critical.
Situational Analysis of Early Childhood Care and Development Services in Ghana
USAID Advancing Nutrition, July 2022
- Early Childhood Development
Reports and Tools
Recommendations include strengthening responsive care, early learning, safety and security, and counseling and support services. Additional recommendations include strengthening workforce early childhood care and development competencies through pre- and in-service trainings and services; providing support to children with disabilities and their families; and providing tools and processes to aid in identification, support, and referrals of caregivers’ mental health issues.
Six Years in 60 Minutes: Learning from the HRH2030 Program
USAID, Human Resources for Health in 2030, PEPFAR, May 2021
Events
Human Resources for Health in 2030 panelists discuss building, managing, and optimizing the health workforce for improved health outcomes. This is a webinar.
Small and Medium Enterprises and Nutrition—Making the Business Case
FAO, July 2021
Reports and Tools
This e-learning course focuses on the key role small and medium enterprises (SME) play in food systems, and both the SME and public health rationale for making nutrition-sensitive investments. It provides examples of nutrition-sensitive investments and their respective business cases, and discusses key elements of an enabling environment to facilitate investments.
Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements for the Prevention of Child Malnutrition and Promotion of Healthy Development: Overview of Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis and Programmatic Implications
Dewey, Kathryn G., Christine P. Stewart, K. Ryan Wessells, et al. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, September 2021
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Research Articles
Co-packaging small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements with interventions that focus on preventing and controlling prenatal and child infections, improving health care access, and promoting early child development may have a greater impact than interventions alone.
Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements: What to Communicate to Program Participants
USAID Advancing Nutrition, September 2023
- Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts
Reports and Tools
This brief helps implementing partners develop accurate communication materials to accompany the distribution of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements.
Small-Scale Farmers Developing Resilience to COVID-19
International Fund for Agricultural Development, March 2021
Reports and Tools
Speakers shed light on how small-scale farmers are dealing with COVID-19, risks to food security for mothers and children, the importance of bringing digital services to farmers, and the advantages of poultry farming over other types of livestock farming. This is a podcast.
A Snapshot of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines Implementation in Selected Countries
Wijesinha-Bettoni, Ramani, Asha Khosravi, Ana Islas Ramos, et al. Global Food Security, June 2021
- Food Systems
Research Articles
While most countries had an official body responsible for implementation, budget allocations, strategies, and plans for implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities were less common. A multi-sectoral food systems approach will facilitate policy alignment to promote healthy eating. This article is behind a paywall.