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.
Five Ways Health and Social Services Can Support Babies, Toddlers and the People Who Care for Them through the Covid-19 Pandemic
Publication Date:
Early Childhood DevelopmentCOVID-19Infant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)Nutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
COVID-19 requires health care, social services, childcare, and other sectors to address rapidly changing governmental policies. Priorities include early years health and nutrition services, parent coaching and support through remote means, childcare services, mental health services to caregivers and families with young children, and investments to prevent and address domestic violence.
Physical Discipline, Deprivation, and Differential Risk of Developmental Delay Across 17 Countries
Publication Date:
Early Childhood Development
Cross-national associations exist between socio-emotional and cognitive delay and parental physical discipline, not having books, and not counting with the child. This article is behind a paywall.
Early Childhood DevelopmentEarly Childhood DevelopmentInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)
The period from pregnancy to age 3 is when children are most susceptible to extreme poverty, gender inequities, violence, toxins, and poor mental health. Parents and other caretakers need information, resources, and services to provide nurturing care.
INCAP Longitudinal Study: 50 Years of History and Legacy
Publication Date:
Early Childhood DevelopmentMicronutrient Interventions
A cohort of children who participated in a nutritional supplementation intervention from 1969–1977 has been followed since. Follow-up studies demonstrate strong evidence of the impact of investments in nutrition, health, and childcare in the first 1,000 days on child development, well-being, and human capital later in life. This article is behind a paywall.
The Impact of Nutritional Interventions on Child Health and Cognitive Development
Publication Date:
Early Childhood DevelopmentMonitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
While promising interventions exist to improve nutritional intake, addressing malnutrition requires multifactorial approaches. For interventions to successfully transform into large-scale policy programs, research must focus on maximizing compliance and sustainability. This article is behind a paywall.
Identifying Children at Risk of Intellectual Disability in UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys: Cross-Sectional Survey
Publication Date:
Early Childhood Development
Using functional difficulty associated with learning (FDAL) data from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys as a proxy indicator for intellectual disability risks may produce false negative errors in low- and-middle income countries and false positive errors among those with higher socioeconomic status. This article is behind a paywall.
Household Food Insecurity and Early Childhood Development: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Publication Date:
Early Childhood DevelopmentFood SystemsFood Security
Significant associations exist between household food insecurity and several early childhood development domains, including developmental risk, vocabulary skills, and math skills; while there are marginal associations with school readiness, reading, and motor development.
Effects of the Global Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic on Early Childhood Development: Short- and Long-Term Risks and Mitigating Program and Policy Actions
Publication Date:
Early Childhood DevelopmentCOVID-19Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
COVID-19 is causing reductions in health care access and may lead to 42 to 66 million more children living in extreme poverty. Crowded housing and lack of access to water and sanitation make physical distancing and handwashing difficult, and researchers anticipate increases in domestic and sexual violence and the loss of caregivers.
The Effect of Malnutrition and Micronutrient Deficiency on Children’s Mental Health
Publication Date:
Early Childhood DevelopmentMicronutrient InterventionsNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
Data suggest that psychosocial interventions can improve malnourished children’s mental health but there is insufficient evidence on the effects of such interventions on supplementation.
Early Life Experiences and Trajectories of Cognitive Development
Publication Date:
Early Childhood DevelopmentInfant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN)
Evidence demonstrates that a supporting and nurturing environment—defined as warmth and responsiveness, discipline and control, stimulation, and teaching—improves cognitive development. Conversely, chronic illness during childhood is negatively associated with cognitive development and school readiness.
Associations Among Early Stimulation, Stunting, and Child Development in Four Countries in the East Asia–Pacific
Publication Date:
Early Childhood Development
Research in four countries found positive correlations between child development and preschool attendance, preschool duration, and home learning activities among non-stunted and stunted children. This article is behind a paywall.
The Impact of Nutrition-Specific and Nutrition-Sensitive Interventions on Hemoglobin Concentrations and Anemia: A Meta-review of Systematic Reviews
Publication Date:
Monitoring, Evaluation, and LearningAnemiaMicronutrient Interventions
Anemia is a condition that can arise from a number of factors including inadequate nutrition, infection, chronic disease, and genetic-related etiologiesis. It's one of the world's most common public health problems.
Social Norms and Child Feeding Practices: What Do We Know? Webinar
-
Social and Behavior Change and GenderGender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
Social norms—the unstated rules that govern behavior in society and determine what is acceptable or taboo—are one of many influences on child feeding behaviors. Norms often specify what young children should eat, as well as how, when, and by whom young children should be fed.
Managing Nutrition Myths and Misconceptions During COVID-19
Publication Date:
Knowledge ManagementSocial and Behavior Change and Gender
This short guide covers social and behavior change strategies for combatting misinformation and supporting programs in responding to COVID-19 related misinformation that affects nutrition.
This report follows the completion of the Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) Early Childhood Development (ECD) 0-3 initiative in Ghana and details its major accomplishments and recommendations. In Ghana, more than 25% of children ages 36-59 months are behind in language, cognitive, physical, and socioemotional development.
This learning report details the methods, results, and recommendations of the Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) Early Childhood Development (ECD) 0-3 initiative in Ghana, which aimed to engage parents and caregivers in stimulation and responsive parenting.
This learning brief details the results of the Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) Early Childhood Development (ECD) 0-3 program initiative in Ghana. The report details significant gains in short-term knowledge transfer and retention of ECD practices among health workers in both implementation regions between the first two years of the project.
This technical brief outlines the strategic objectives and critical accomplishments of the Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) Early Childhood Development (ECD) initiative in Ghana, where almost 20 percent of children under 5 are stunted and more than a quarter of children age 3-5 are delayed in their physical and cognitive development.
Nutrition and Health SystemsAdolescent NutritionCOVID-19Food SecurityNutrition Assessment, Counseling, and Support (NACS)
Although children are not a high-risk group for COVID-19, they are subject to indirect impacts resulting from overburdened food and health systems. To help ensure these challenges do not jeopardize children’s health and wellbeing, authors outline recommendations for key stakeholders, including governments, private sector, UN agencies, donors, faith leaders, and NGOs.