A Mass Attack on a Basic Problem: A Child Nutrition Project in Latin America

Abstract

In 1958 and 1959, the Inter-American Children's Institute of Montevideo, Uruguay, and the Unitarian Service Committee of the United States cosponsored four Symposia on Child Nutrition in Latin America with the co-operation of Spe cialized Organizations of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the International Co-operation Admin istration. Each sponsor appointed a team of experts, contrib uted by universities and governmental agencies, to conduct the symposia. The Williams-Waterman Fund helped to provide travel grants for three participants from each South American country. Different professions—medicine, agriculture, social work, education, anthropology, and so on—were represented. The multidisciplinary approach—new to the Latin Americans —proved effective in dealing with a multifaceted problem which has top priority in Latin America because of its serious effects on the general population, particularly children, and because it is recognized as a deterrent to economic development and productivity.