Month: March 2016

5 Ways Investing in Good Nutrition is Working

The scale of malnutrition can be overwhelming. Every year it kills over 3 million children under the age of 5 and leaves another 159 million stunted. Yet, the world holds the solutions to prevent malnutrition. When individuals, communities and organizations come together to focus their efforts on improving nutrition, women are healthier, children can survive and thrive, and nations can prosper.

Here are five examples of how investments in maternal and child nutrition are working:

  1. Parents in Zambia are uniting to reduce malnutritionWorld Vision’s Christina Bradic shows the power of communities to improve nutrition education.
  1. Vietnam triples its breastfeeding rates in just 5 years1,000 Days’ Lucy Sullivan lays out what the U.S. and others can learn from investing in breastfeeding promotion and support.
  1. Women and girls are key to ending intergenerational cycles of malnutrition and povertyONE’s Tom Hart makes the case for what’s needed to break the cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
  1. Maternal nutrition saves livesSave the Children’s Mark Shriver shares how countries can save the lives of moms and babies by investing in maternal nutrition.
  1. Good nutrition fuels a country’s economyWFP USA’s Allan Jury explains what countries need to do to capitalize on these economic opportunities.

Clearly we know what works, and we can see the powerful results when we invest in maternal and child nutrition.

This August, world leaders will gather in Brazil to commit to ending malnutrition as part of the Nutrition for Growth summit. It is essential that countries come to the table with strong pledges, for this is an opportunity to build healthier and more prosperous futures for all.

Marching for Nutrition on Capitol Hill

This week 1,000 Days and our partners came together on Capitol Hill to tell Congress why 2016 is the year to invest in global nutrition and reinforce the critical importance of U.S. government leadership to bring an end to malnutrition in all its forms. We met with 15 Congressional offices, including both Democrats and Republicans.

This year is nutrition’s “Olympic moment” as world leaders will gather on the eve of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the Nutrition for Growth summit to make bold commitments towards ending malnutrition. While malnutrition early in life leaves one in four children physically and developmentally stunted—an irreversible condition that limits a child’s ability to grow, learn, and thrive—only a small fraction of the funding for global health programs goes to the proven, life-saving nutrition programs that children need.

Now is the time for governments to prioritize the health and well-being of the world’s youngest children by investing in nutrition.

Nutrition investments are core to the success of the U.S. government’s two flagship initiatives – Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths and Feed the Future. As we made clear to policymakers this week, the United States is poised to make a gold-medal pledge at Nutrition for Growth, but we need their support and action to make this a reality.

Update Photo 2

Meeting with Representative Renee Ellmers (R-NC)

Today, nearly half of child deaths under the age of 5 are due to malnutrition, claiming the lives of nearly 3 million children every year. If the U.S. government increases funding, it can prevent millions of women and children from suffering the plight of malnutrition and not reaching their full potential.

Now is the time for the U.S. to invest in nutrition and transform the lives of women, children and entire communities. Join us this month as we #March4Nutrition!