From nutrition interventions focused on children to those focused on women of reproductive age

25% of developing world’s child stunting is associated with poor growth in womb, such as pre-term birth and low birth weight. Authors prescribe “paradigm shift” from interventions focused solely on children and infants to those that reach mothers and families.

Says lead author Goodarz Danaei, Assistant Professor of Global Health at Harvard Chan School: “These results emphasize the importance of early interventions before and during pregnancy, especially efforts to address malnutrition. (…) This is a serious problem at every level, from individual to national,” he adds. “Early life growth faltering is strongly linked to lost educational attainment and the immense cost of unrealized human potential in the developing world. Stunting undermines economic productivity, in turn limiting the development of low-income countries.”

Source

Boston, MA – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Grand Challenges Canada, 2016.