Nutrition

Description

Nutrition programs focus on evidence-based interventions that are foundational to a child’s life. They prevent and treat stunting, wasting (acute malnutrition), and micronutrient deficiencies, such as anemia. They focus on the first 1,000 days of life—from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday and good maternal, infant, and young child feeding practices. These programs support long-term health, cognitive development, and physical growth.

Use of Funds

Resources fight severe malnutrition by increasing nutrition activities in 22 priority countries, including education, technical assistance, and the direct delivery of services such as micronutrient supplementation and community management of acute malnutrition. Nutrition programs also address nutritional deficiencies and support services to provide nutrition supplements for pregnant women.

Justification

• Due to COVID-19, there are expected to be an additional 9.3 million wasted children, 2.6 million stunted children, 2.1 million children born to women with low BMIs, and $29.7 billion in productivity loss.
• 22% of children under five suffer from undernutrition; 50 million children suffer from wasting; and annually, approximately 5.2 million children under five die of mostly preventable and treatable causes.
  • 45% of all deaths among children under five are attributed to nutrition-related factors.
• Worldwide, anemia affects 500 million women of reproductive age, impairing their health and economic productivity. In pregnant women, anemia can lead to death and can have serious consequences for infants, including stillbirth, prematurity, and low birth weight.
• In 2019, USAID reached 27.2 million children with high-impact, often life-saving, nutrition interventions. From 2000 to 2016, the number of stunted children under five declined from 198 million to 155 million.
• Nutrition interventions provide a strong economic return on investment. Every U.S. dollar spent on nutrition-specific interventions yields a return of up to $35 as a result of increased cognitive and physical development and improved health.