World Health Organization. Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition. Geneva, Switzerland, 2014

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) has long advocated for and worked toward substantial and sustained improvements in maternal, infant, and child nutrition around the globe. This is in large part because of the many acute and longlasting negative impacts that poor maternal/infant nutrition has on not only individuals but entire communities and nations. Together, maternal and child undernutrition are estimated to account for 11% of the global burden of disease, and childhood malnutrition is considered the root cause of mortality in ~35% of all deaths among children younger than the age of 5 y. Malnutrition can also lead to lifelong deficits in cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and work productivity. As such, improving nutrition in early life and during a woman’s reproductive years has far-reaching implications onmany levels both directly and indirectly related to basic health outcomes.