Nutrition
The document library features summaries and links to editorially-selected publications on the key themes of health, education, nutrition, social protection and WASH. The documents are sourced from academic research, policy papers and global development organisations.
This paper brings structure to the discussion of private-sector engagement in nutrition by clarifying different models of engagement, reviews the evidence base on public-private partnerships (PPPs) for the reduction of undernutrition, and outlines some potential ways forward. The paper finds that there are few independent, rigorous assessments of the impact of commercial-sector engagement in nutrition…. Read more
This paper investigates young people’s and their caregivers’ experiences of food insecurity, diet and eating practices in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in India. It also provides original child-focused evidence on perceptions of government food programmes such as the Midday Meal Scheme and the Targeted Public Distribution System. The paper analyses three rounds of longitudinal qualitative… Read more
Despite the popularity of school meals, there is little evidence on their effect on health outcomes. This study uses newly available longitudinal data from the state of Andhra Pradesh in India to estimate the impact of the introduction of a national midday meal programme on anthropometric z-scores of primary school students, and investigates whether the… Read more
Food insecurity and poor nutrition remain a problem in many developing countries and can have profound effects on children’s health and their development. The Midday Meal Scheme in India is a programme covering primary school children to improve nutrition as well as increase educational enrolment, retention and attendance. This policy brief examines the effect of… Read more
The India Health Report: Nutrition 2015 surveys the trends in maternal and child undernutrition in India. It looks at trends and disparities in these outcomes across geographical regions, socio-economic classes, and demographic groups. Tackling undernutrition and enabling improvements in the determinants of poor nutrition requires actions from multiple actors and sectors, and at multiple levels. In… Read more
This paper explores the links between water infrastructure, water policies, processes and protections, along with mechanisms for women’s leadership and decision-making for contributing to rural well-being. The broad-brush strokes approach is our attempt to reveal the breadth and complexity of the interdisciplinary nature of problems, which can only be solved via interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches…. Read more
This topic guide summarises some of the most rigorous available evidence on the key debates and challenges of disability inclusion in development and humanitarian response. Disability does not necessary imply limited wellbeing and poverty. Yet there is growing evidence that the estimated one billion people with disabilities face attitudinal, physical and institutional barriers that result in… Read more
This Topic Guide aims to answer the question ‘What is the interaction between social development issues and human development outcomes?’ An individual’s right to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living cannot be realised without addressing social development issues. This is because these issues determine… Read more
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 2015 edition of The State of the World’s Children calls for brave and fresh thinking to address age-old problems that still affect the world’s most disadvantaged children. The report is inspired by the work of innovators around the world who… Read more
This study aimed to assess the determinants of under nutrition among under-two year old children of rural Bangladesh. The data of the National Nutrition Program baseline survey conducted in 2004 was analysed, which included 8,885 under-two children and their mothers. Among the children studied, 41%, 35% and 18% were stunted, underweight, and wasted; and 16%,… Read more
As political commitment is an essential ingredient for elevating food and nutrition security onto policy agendas, commitment metrics have proliferated. Many conflate government commitment to fight hunger with combating undernutrition. The authors test the hypothesis that commitment to hunger reduction is empirically different from commitment to reducing undernutrition through expert surveys in five high-burden countries:… Read more