joseph hunt

Child malnutrition is pervasive and persistent in Asia, and at present rates it will take decades to halve the prevalence—a goal common to many national plans. Nutrition-oriented programs are familiar in most countries, but have far too low coverage and resources, which is wasteful as well as ineffective. A massive expansion of community-based programs is feasible, with well-established activities (usually including support to: antenatal care, breastfeeding, caring practices including complementary feeding, growth monitoring, access to health care). Networks of local workers, ensuring individual contact with families, are the essential feature. Requirements including costs are proposed. Micronutrient deficiency control programs must also be expanded towards universal coverage. Context is crucial to success, important examples being women’s status, social exclusion, political commitment, community organizations, and literacy; policies should be directed to improving these. Assessing ...

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) depresses human productivity, but policymakers do not generally view this effect as an impediment to sustained economic growth. Economic logic should be enfolded in public advocacy for increased investment in the prevention and control of IDA. This paper argues that integrated strategies are required, with each intervention clearly related to particular groups at risk, and benefits carefully calibrated with costs. Protecting women's lives through supplementation has the first call on public resources, but the most productive investments reduce population prevalence at least cost, and these lie with food-based approaches within the competence of the processed food and seed industries. The public and private sectors must embark on modernization of the food industry in developing countries and reorientation of the international agricultural research complex so that iron-enriched essential foods will be affordable and accessible to the poor, especially children. The costs of IDA, the availability of cost-effective strategies and the benefits of sustained iron nutrition improvement to individuals, families and nations are reviewed. The roles of iron supplementation, food fortification, plant breeding and biotechnology, both actual and imminent, are described. The paper concludes that a recast Green Revolution directed toward dietary quality may be the key to enhancing the learning and earning capacity of young people in the developing world.