Childhood undernutrition manifests itself in various ways including stunting, wasting, underweight, and micronutrient deficiencies. Stunting (being too short for the child’s age) captures a state of linear growth retardation and cumulative growth impairment due to chronic nutritional deficiency and illness that deprive a fetus and child of required nutrients. Despite the global decline in stunting prevalence by over 25% since 1990, an estimated 22% of the 150 million children are currently stunted with significant regional and within region disparity. Stunting is largely an irreversible outcome that stifles individuals from fulfilling their full development and economic potential. It increases the risk of impaired brain development with implications for cognitive and non-cognitive functions, educational performance, productivity, and chronic diseases later in life. It also increases the frequency and severity of exposure to common infections with one in seven under 5 deaths linked to it. Stunting and other forms of undernutrition costs countries billions of dollars in lost revenue and healthcare outlays. This report presents results from a cost benefit analysis (CBA) of a package of nutrition-specific investments studied as part of The Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition and Copenhagen Consensus exercise. The investments tackle the immediate causes of child undernutrition ─ inadequate intake of nutrients, diseases, and infections and include behavior change communication programs to promote breastfeeding and complementary feeding; supplementation of crucial micronutrients to pregnant women and young children; provision of complementary foods to children; and management of severe acute malnutrition. We focus on two developing regions with the highest burden of stunting globally ─ Southern Asia and Africa South of the Sahara (SSA). Economic benefits are modelled for a cohort of children born between 2015 and 2030 who will join the workforce at 18 years of age and retire when 60 years old. Two benefit streams (the value of avoided premature child mortality and lifetime earnings gains) and two costs elements (the cost of the nutrition investments and of delivering schooling) are considered. Benefit-cost (BC) ratios are estimated under alternative scenarios based on the returns to stunting reductions and cost elements considered. Besides discount rates previously used in the nutrition and economics literature (between 3% and 6%), we consider a 10% discount rate used by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for the sake of comparability of economic returns to these nutritional investments with that of other sectoral investments by MCC.

An Investment Framework for Nutrition: Reaching the Global Targets for Stunting, Anemia, Breastfeeding, and Wasting estimates the costs, impacts, and financing scenarios to achieve the World Health Assembly global nutrition targets for stunting, anemia in women, exclusive breastfeeding and the scaling up of the treatment of severe wasting among young children. To reach these four targets, the world needs US$70 billion over 10 years to invest in high-impact nutrition-specific interventions. This investment would have enormous benefits: 65 million cases of stunting and 265 million cases of anemia in women would be prevented in 2025 as compared with the 2015 baseline. In addition, at least 91 million more children would be treated for severe wasting and 105 million additional babies would be exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life over 10 years. Altogether, achieving these targets would avert at least 3.7 million child deaths. Every dollar invested in this package of interventions would yield between US$4 and US$35 in economic returns, making investing in early nutrition one of the best value-for-money development actions. Although some of the targets—especially those for reducing stunting in children and anemia in women—are ambitious and will require concerted efforts in financing, scale-up, and sustained commitment, recent experience from several countries suggests that meeting these targets is feasible. These investments in the critical 1000-day window of early childhood are inalienable and portable and will pay lifelong dividends—not only for children directly affected but also for us all in the form of more robust societies—that will drive future economies.

This book is the first comprehensive assessment of nutrition in Asia, a region that has the largest concentration of global malnutrition. It reviews a wide array of nutrition-relevant trends, policies, programmes, challenges and opportunities in Asia. The simple fact that every third child born is malnourished at birth represents an enormous drain on human and economic development. The pay-off to turning this tide is both immense and immeasurable. In the long-term, sustainable poverty-reducing economic growth will simply not be possible without dealing with malnutrition. This book describes the main driving forces behind the groundswell of under nutrition. It sheds light on the emerging "double burden" of co-existing underweight and overweight and the linkages between these two different forms of malnutrition.

The Handbook of Applied Developmental Science is the only work to comprehensively present the latest theory, research, and application from applied developmental science (ADS) and the positive psychology movement. It summarizes and synthesizes the best scientific knowledge from ADS to help readers understand the efforts being made around the world to ensure that all children and adolescents develop into healthy adults who contribute positively to society. The Handbook is also the first resource to organize and integrate both the prevention and promotion approaches to programs and policies for children, adolescents, and families. In addition, the Handbook provides a detailed road map for future research and for actions that will promote positive child, youth, and family development. Published in four volumes, the Handbook features 95 chapters by more than 150 contributors, many of who are renowned leaders in the field. Volume 1 describes the foundation of applied developmental science, its historical development, and current scientific and professional efforts to develop policies and programs that promote positive child, adolescent, and family development. Volume 2 examines public policy and government service systems. Volume 3 discusses community systems for enhancing citizenship and promoting a civil society. Finally, Volume 4 outlines methods for university engagement and academic outreach. Feature and Benefits - Four comprehensive, topical volumes - Approximately 2,200 pages - 95 chapters - More than 150 contributors, many of whom are world-renowned leaders in applied development science from the academic, professional, and policy and political arenas - Forewords for each volume written by well-known authorities, including Edward Zigler, co-founder of the Head Start program; US Congressman Elijah E Cummings; David Bell, International Youth Foundation; and Graham Spanier, President, The Pennsylvania State University Designed for a wide audience the Handbook will be an important addition to your library collection. It offers a single source for information about fostering generations of healthy children and families. It is designed specifically to meet the needs of: - Faculty and students in the fields of psychology, human development, family studies, policy studies, nursing, allied health, and education - Staff and volunteers working in non-governmental organizations - Members of local, state, national, and international government organizations and personnel involved in policy and program development and funding - Directors and staff at foundations that administer programs aimed at promoting positive your and family development

This volume constitutes a commentary on Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is part of the series, "A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child," which provides an article by article analysis of all substantive, organizational and procedural provisions of the CRC and its two Optional Protocols. For every article, a comparison with related human rights provisions is made, followed by an in-depth exploration of the nature and scope of State obligations deriving from that article. The series constitutes an essential tool for actors in the field of children's rights, including academics, students, judges, grassroots workers, governmental, non- governmental and international officers. The series is sponsored by the "Belgian Federal Science Policy Office,"

L'ouvrage Un cadre d'investissement pour la nutrition: atteindre les cibles mondiales en matiere de retard de croissance, d'anemie, d'allaitement maternel et d'emaciation estime les couts et les impacts des differents scenarios de financement qui permettraient l'atteinte des cibles mondiales de nutrition adoptees par l' Assemblee mondiale de la sante en matiere de retard de croissance, danemie chez la femme, d'allaitement matemel exclusif et de mise a I'echelle du traitement de I'emaciation severe chez le jeune enfant. 11 faudra, pour atteindre ces quatre cibles, proceder a des financements mondiaux de 70 milliards de dollars sur lOans, ceci dans des interventions specifiques a la nutrition a fort impact. Ces investissements auraient toutefois des retornbees substantielles : 65 millions de cas de retard de croissance et 265 millions de cas danemie chez la femme auraient ete evites en 2025 comparati vement a I' annee de reference 2015. En outre, sur 10 ans, au moins 91 millions d' enfants supplementaires auraient ete traites pour emaciation severe et 105 millions de nourrissons additionnels auraient ete beneficiaires d'un allaitement matemel exclusif au cours de leurs premiers six mois de vie. L'atteintede l'ensemble de ces cibles permettrait d'eviter au moins 3,7 millions de mortalites infantiles. Chaque dollar investi dans ce paquet d'interventions genererait des rendements econorniques de4 a 35 dollars, ce qui fait du financement de la nutrition precoce l'une des interventions de developpement les plus rentables. Certaines des cibles - particulierement celles qui sont axees sur la reduction du retard de croissance chez l'enfant et de I'anemie chez la femmeparaissent ambitieuses et demanderont des efforts concertes de financement, de mise a l' echelle et d' engagement continu; toutefois, l' experience tiree de plusieurs pays indique que leur atteinte reste possible. Les investissements au cours des 1000 premiers jours decisifs de la petite enfance sont inalienables, transportables et porteurs de retombees tout au long de la vie - non seulement pour les enfants directement concernes, mais aussi pour nous tous - sous forme de societes plus robustes, qui agissent comme moteur des economies a venir.

This document summarizes published and grey literature on conceptual framework on the link between child nutrition and economic growth, determinants of child undernutrition, types of investments to enhance maternal and child nutrition, and linkages between urbanization and child nutrition. Several in-sights emerge from the review. First, and despite progresses over the last several decades, maternal and child malnutrition is still prevalent in developing countries and the progress has been uneven. While the percentage of chronically malnourished (stunted) children declined across the developing world, the number of stunted children in Africa increased due to slower reduction in stunting prevalence and population growth. Many developing countries are experiencing the coexistence of different forms of malnutrition including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, and overnutrition. Second, child undernutrition, especially stunting during the first 1,000 days of life, has several short- and long-term effects on individuals and economies that include impaired cognitive and non-cognitive development, poor educational performance, low productivity and earnings, and higher healthcare costs. Third, the determinants of child undernutrition are broadly classified as the immediate determinants including dietary intake and diseases; the underlying determinants that include household food security, quality of care and household living environment, and access to healthcare; and the basic determinants that include access to productive resources, stock of capital, as well as socioeconomic, political and cultural factors. Investments to enhance child nutrition can target either the immediate determinants (known as nutrition-specific investments) or the underlying determinants (known as nutrition-sensitive investments). Fourth, the effect of urbanization on child nutrition is mostly determined by the extent to which urban settlements offer their residents with better economic opportunities (e.g., better paying jobs and markets for nutritious food) and services (e.g., healthier living environments). Fifth, given the multilayer causes of child undernutrition, a multi-sectoral approach is needed to address the various determinants of undernutrition to improve maternal nutrition, promote optimal infant and young child feeding practices, enhance household food security, as well as improve healthy living environment and access to quality health care.

Despite Asia’s rapid growth, vast sections of its population still live in poverty and suffer hunger and other forms of deprivation. Merely relying on Asia’s growth will not help the deprived see a better future in their lifetimes. Ways must be found to make growth more inclusive combined with proactive public action to bring substantial improvements in the lives of Asia’s deprived people. This book is written by a set of experts who have been working long on reducing various aspects of human deprivations in Asia. It begins with a discussion of the massive dimensions of deprivations that continue to exist in Asia. Although many countries have adopted inclusive growth strategies to enable the benefits of growth to reach the poor, much more needs to be done to make growth processes more broad based and beneficial to all. The book points to essential action needed to bring this about. The book also emphasizes the crucial role of determined, target driven public action if Asia’s deprived populations are to see substantial improvement in their lives. Practical measures to tackle problems of hunger, unemployment, gender discrimination, ill health, lack of quality basic education, inadequate access to clean water and basic sanitation are each discussed. The problems of the urban poor and migrants who continue to flock to Asia’s cities are also highlighted. The book also emphasizes the need for an appropriate environment for public action to succeed including strong participatory institutions, effective governance, social protection and regional cooperation.