Recap: Congressional Briefing on the COVID-19 Recovery and Malnutrition
On August 21, 2021, 1,000 Days, Bread for the World, the Micronutrient Forum and Standing Together for Nutrition (STfN) hosted a Congressional briefing on the COVID-19 Recovery and Malnutrition. Global recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic are increasingly urgent in light of a looming malnutrition crisis that threatens the futures of an entire generation of children.
Modelling done by the STfN, a collective group of nutrition, economic, food, and health system experts, that was published in Nature Food, shows that, by 2022, there will be an estimated additional 13.6 million wasted (severely malnourished) children, additional 3.6 million stunted children, and 283,000 additional deaths of children, with the most severe consequences for young children and their mothers. Economic losses attributed to childhood stunting and mortality translate to future productivity earnings of 44 billion USD.
The August event featured remarks from Congressional nutrition champions Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan and Congresswoman Young Oak Kim on the impact of COVID-19 on malnutrition and food insecurity around the world and the recent legislation they co-sponsored to address this crisis, the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021.
The event featured the following nutrition champions (in order of appearance):
- Blythe Thomas, Initiative Director, 1,000 Days, an initiative of FHI Solutions
- Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan
- Congresswoman Young Kim
- Jordan Teague, Interim Director for Policy Analysis & Coalition Building, Bread for the World
- Dr. Rebecca Heidkamp, University of Johns Hopkins, Standing Together for Nutrition Consortium
- Abdoulaye Ka, Government of Senegal
- Shawn Baker, Chief Nutritionist, United States Agency for International Development
Watch the recording here.
