Back Back     Home Home

Life-cycle focus: Pregnancy

Asegurando un inicio saludable para un desarrollo futuro: El hierro durante los primeros seis meses de vida

En los lactantes y en los niños, la defi ciencia de hierro y la anemia debida a la defi ciencia de hierro son de particular preocupación, debido a sus efectos negativos y probablemente irreversibles en relación al desarrollo cognitivo, motor y conductual.

Published in 2008, by OPS - PAHO, OMS - WHO

FAQ - Breastfeeding and Maternal Nutrition

Focuses on the impact of maternal nutrition on breastmilk quantity and quality, the nutritional requirements of lactating women, the impact of breastfeeding on maternal health, and implications of this information for programs.

Published in 2004, by LINKAGES

Fifth Report on the World Nutrition Situation

The 5th Report continues the tradition of reporting on trends in nutrition throughout the life cycle and of challenging the nutrition community. But instead of asking the question: how is nutrition affected by global changes? the 5th Report asks the question more proactively: how can a nutrition perspective accelerate the attainment of a comprehensive set of...

Published in 2004, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Fourth Report on the World Nutrition Situation Nutrition throughout the Life Cycle

The Fourth Report on the World Nutrition Situation is part of a series of ACC/SCN reports initiated in the mid-1980s on the nutritional status of populations in developing countries. While earlier reports have focused on regional trends in preschool undernutrition, this report is built around the theme nutrition throughout the life cycle. This change was...

Published in 2000, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

HIV/AIDS, Nutrition, and Food Security: What We Can Do

A synthesis of existing technical guidance on HIV and AIDS, nutrition, and food security. The synthesis aims to provide decisionmakers and service providers with guidance on how nutrition may be integrated into HIV prevention and AIDS treatment.

Published in 2007, by World Bank

Insight: Why stunting matters

This technical brief discusses the negative effects of stunting and the steps we can take to prevent them. It is the second in a series of technical briefs that address the continuum of care for good infant and young child feeding, from initiation of early and exclusive breastfeeding through complementary feeding in later infancy and the second year of life....

Published in 2010, by Alive & Thrive

Making pregnancy safer: the critical role of the skilled attendant

This statement clearly argues for the rapid training of skilled birth attendants, and suggests how the role of the traditional birth attendant can be transformed into one in which they encourage women to seek care from a skilled attendant.

Published in 2004, by WHO, International Confederation of Midwives, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 01 - Nutrition Education: A State-of-the-art Review

How well or poorly does nutrition education work? Does it deal better with some nutrition problems than with others? Do some kinds of nutrition education produce better results than other kinds? These are the sorts of questions addressed by Dr. Robert Hornik and a panel of distinguished discussants in the pages that follow. From their answers emerges a...

Published in 1985, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 03 - The Prevention and Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders

This paper is the third in the ACC/SCN's State-of-the-Art series. Like the two previous papers, on nutrition education and control of vitamin A deficiency, it provides information to assist decisions on policies and programmes to prevent widespread nutritional problems. Iodine deficiency is one of these, affecting some 200 million people. Yet science and...

Published in 1988, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 04 - Women's Role in Food Chain Activities and the Implications for Nutrition

We hope that the wide-ranging information herein will further the crucially important cause of women, specifically in relation to nutrition, in several ways. First, women's central role in providing for adequate nutrition - of families, communities, and indeed nations - in being described here in detail should help to give increased prominence to the need...

Published in 1989, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 05 - Malnutrition and Infection - A review

The combination of malnutrition and infection causes most of the preventable deaths in developing countries, certainly among young children. Malnutrition increases the risk and worsens the course of infectious disease; and infection leads to malnutrition. Thus we have used the expression “malnutrition-infection complex”. Good nutrition undoubtedly is a...

Published in 1989, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 06 - Women and Nutrition

Women, throughout most of the world, have the major responsibility for their families' nutrition. Their own nutrition is often impaired, under the social and biological stresses they face. Developments that improve women's position in society are likely to improve nutrition overall, and are essential for this. Equally, any activities aimed at preventing...

Published in 1990, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 08 - Managing Successful Nutrition Programmes

Because undernutrition and malnutrition are the result of different economic and social determinants, it is difficult in field studies - not being double blind, randomized and placebo controlled - to attribute significant outcomes to specific interventions. And yet the need for successful nutrition programmes is becoming more compelling. They are required by...

Published in 1991, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 09 - Controlling Iron Deficiency

Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common nutritional disorder in the world, affecting particularly pregnant and lactating women and pre-school children. Supplementation with ferrous sulphate tablets (often including folic acid) is efficacious but problems exist with effectiveness of large scale programmes in developing countries. Nonetheless, improvement...

Published in 1991, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 10 - Nutrition-relevant Actions

'Nutrition' has been used in the past to describe both an input (consumption of nutrients) as well as a set of outcomes. Some of the confusion about the scope of actions to improve nutrition may be cleared up by distinguishing causality and effect. Thus, if nutrition is to be seen as an input, then the focus will be primarily on food. If it is to be viewed...

Published in 1991, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 11 - Nutrition and Population Links - Breastfeeding, Family Planning and Child Health

The fact remains that, at the community level, family planning services are quite separate from nutrition and health interventions despite their reinforcing effects. It is another reflection of the trend towards segmental primary health care which we have witnessed in the last ten years. What the field does, is usually what the centre decides and provides -...

Published in 1992, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 12 - Nutritional Issues in Food Aid

In the past, critics of food aid have argued that it encourages dependency, both by undermining incentives to local food production as well as biasing tastes towards imported commodities. However, as we approach the mid-1990s, there is now a growing understanding that -- when managed appropriately - food aid can provide a positive boost to food security, at...

Published in 1993, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 14 - Controlling Vitamin A Deficiency

With the recent publication of "Effectiveness of Vitamin A Supplementation in the Control of Young Child Morbidity and Mortality in Developing Countries" as ACC/SCN Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No. 13, we now know more about the type and degree of positive benefits of raising vitamin A status among deprived populations. After the findings of the...

Published in 1994, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 16 - Nutrition and Poverty

This report presents a collection of papers discussed at the 24th Session of the United Nations Sub-Committee on Nutrition, held in March 1997 in Kathmandu. The Symposium presenters and discussants traced the origins of child malnutrition to low birth weight, maternal deprivation and discrimination against girls and women in South Asia. Malnutrition in the...

Published in 1997, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 17 - Challenges for the 21st Century: A Gender Perspective on Nutrition through the Life Cycle

To accelerate progress in tackling malnutrition, adequate food, health, and care must be ensured throughout the lifecycle. Good nutrition during pregnancy reduces the likelihood of low birth weight and improves pregnancy outcomes. Promotion of growth and development in the young infant and child leads to a well-nourished school-aged child who can participate...

Published in 1998, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 18 - Low Birthweight

This Nutrition Policy Paper was produced by the ACC/SCN in collaboration with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh: Centre for Health and Population Research. It summarizes the proceedings of the Low Birthweight Symposium and Workshop held in Dhaka in June 1999. Evidence regarding interventions to prevent low birthweight and...

Published in 2000, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 19 - What Works? A Review of the Efficacy and Effectiveness of Nutrition Interventions

This review takes the perspective of low-income Asia, because the study was commissioned by the Asian Development Bank to inform its policy dialogue with Asian governments. We believe the review will be useful for ADB and all development partners selecting nutrition interventions as stand-alone activities or components in integrated social development...

Published in 2001, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 20 - Nutrition and HIV/AIDS

This Nutrition Policy Paper is based on the ACC/SCN Symposium on Nutrition and HIV/AIDS held in Nairobi in April 2001. The objective of the symposium was, firstly, to stimulate collaboration between the nutrition and HIV/AIDS communities. The second objective was to examine a broad range of nutrition issues that have a direct bearing on policies and...

Published in 2001, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 22 - Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation During Pregnancy in Developing Country Settings

This issue of Nutrition Policy paper focuses on multiple micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy in developing country settings.

Published in 2009, by United Nations University

Pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and neonatal care: a guide for essential practice

This guide provides evidence-based recommendations to guide health-care professionals in the management of women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period, and post abortion, and newborns during their first weeks of life. It is a guide for clinical decision-making. It facilitates the collection, analysis, classification and use of relevant...

Published in 2006, by WHO Department of Making Pregnancy Safer

Preventing and controlling micronutrient deficiencies in populations affected by an emergency

Provides guidance on the composition of multiple micronutrient supplements for vitamins and minerals and for the fortification of general rations for women and children.

Published in 2006, by WHO, WFP, UNICEF

REACH Acting at Scale Implementation Case Studies - Conditional Cash Transfers

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2008, by REACH

REACH Acting at Scale Implementation Case Studies - Deworming

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2009, by REACH

REACH Acting at Scale Implementation Case Studies - Local Homestead Food Production

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2008, by REACH

REACH Acting at Scale Implementation Case Studies - Malaria Interventions

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2008, by REACH

REACH Acting at Scale Implementation Case Studies - Supplementary Feeding

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2009, by REACH

REACH Acting at Scale Intervention Guides - Deworming

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2009, by REACH

REACH Acting at Scale Intervention Guides - Malaria Interventions

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2009, by REACH

REACH Acting at Scale Intervention Guides - Micronutrient Supplementation and Fortification

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2009, by REACH

REACH Acting at Scale Intervention Guides - Supplementary Feeding

The Acting at Scale series is a collection of information resources for nutrition practitioners and include an Intervention Guide and Implementation Case Studies for each of the 11 REACH-promoted interventions. These documents aim to provide highly condensed information and lessons learned for scaling up nutrition interventions to support field practitioners...

Published in 2009, by REACH

Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development: A Strategy for Large-Scale Action

Putting an end to extreme malnutrition will lay the foundation for improving the health and well-being of the present generation and lead to benefits for future generations over the 21st century. This report is written primarily for the community of international development partners, as well as those in government and civil society concerned with action to improve nutrition.

Published in 2006, by World Bank

SCN News No 04 - Update on the Nutrition Situation

This issue of SCN News gives an update on the nutrition situation - Latest data from 33 countries show diverse trends. Drought and debt crises regularly hit the headlines. Success stories have a poorer press. What is actually happening to nutrition in countries in the developing world? Is the "silent emergency" becoming "silent genocide"?

Published in 1989, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 06 - Preventing Anaemia

The main topics of this SCN News are: Recommendations on the deficiency control methods - especially supplementation - from recent ACC/SCN workshop; Policies to Improve Nutrition - Review of recent experience, focusing on household food security, malnutrition/infection, and caring capacity; Weaning Foods - Fermentation reduces contamination; adding...

Published in 1990, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 07 - Refugees' Nutrition Crisis

The main focus of this SCN News is on refugees' nutrition crisis, as serious problems are experienced in meeting the nutritional needs of refugees. Furthermore, micronutrient intake and its relation to income and prices as well as the link between breastfeeding, birth spacing and nutrition are discussed.

Published in 1991, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 08 - Highlights of the World Nutrition Situation

This issue of SCN News summarizes analytical work in the last few years for the Reports on the World Nutrition Situation and elsewhere, on the possibility of using food prices in nutrition monitoring. A second focus is on the long-term effects of improved childhood nutrition.

Published in 1992, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 09 - Focus on Micronutrients

Deficiencies in the intake or absorption of vitamin A, iron, and iodine have serious consequences for health and mental and physical function. The clinical manifestations of these nutritional deficiencies - such as xerophthalmia, anaemia, and goitre - have been identified as major problems with increasing public health significance. This issue of SCN News...

Published in 1993, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 10 - Nutrition and Food Aid; Nutrition and Human Rights

Although the idea that adequate nutrition should be regarded as a fundamental human right appears in many different contexts in international law - these are not binding in practice. Another focus of this SCN News is on Nutrition Transition: Large shifts in dietary composition are taking place in some lower income countries with important implications for...

Published in 1993, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 11 - Maternal and Child Nutrition

This SCN News focuses on maternal and child nutrition. Birthweight, child growth and adolescent growth - all needing good nutrition - determine nutritional status before and during pregnancy. Therefore, maternal nutrition influences foetal growth and birthweight, of this and future generations.

Published in 1994, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 13 - Behavioural Change and Nutrition Programmes; Poor Nutrition and Chronic Disease

This issue of SCN News features a report of discussions at the ACC/SCN symposium on behavioural change and nutrition programmes as well as a report of the proceedings of the ACC/SCN symposium on nutrition in the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and obesity in developing countries.

Published in 1995, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 14 - Meeting the Nutrition Challenge

The focus of this issue of SCN News is on the nutrition challenge in the 21st century. New estimates of trends in malnutrition show some improvement worldwide, but at a substantially slower rate in the last few years than in the 1980s. This slowdown is cause for concern. It means that while the end of hunger and malnutrition had been coming into sight in the...

Published in 1997, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 21 - Nutrition and the Environment

This issue of SCN News deals with nutrition and the environment. With two major global conferences held in the past two months on environmental concerns, as well as increased media attention to climate change and global warming, environmental pollution and safety of the food supply, we felt it appropriate to set out a series of articles on the linkages with nutrition.

Published in 2000, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 27 – Meeting the Challenge to Improve Complementary Feeding

This issue of SCN News focuses on the critical period of complementary feeding, and its importance to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Dr Chessa Lutter, from the Pan American Health Organization, has compiled a series of articles which depicts the challenges and possibilities to improving complementary feeding for young children.

Published in 2003, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 32 - Tackling the Double Burden of Malnutrition: A Global Agenda

SCN News No 32 - Tackling the Double Burden of Malnutrition: A Global Agenda. This issue provides the outcomes of the 33rd Annual Session focusing on Tackling the Double Burden of Malnutrition. This is the first time the SCN addresses malnutrition in all its forms affecting both the developing and industrialized worlds. The objective was to develop clear...

Published in 2006, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 36 - Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal and Child Undernutrition

This edition of the SCN News is of special relevance for a variety of reasons, not least of which being the recommendations agreed at the 35th Session held in Hanoi in March 2008, hosted by the Government of Vietnam. The 35th Session was aimed at understanding how to accelerate the reduction of maternal and child undernutrition, drawing on the recently...

Published in 2008, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Second Report on the World Nutrition Situation - Volume I: Global and Regional Results

This Second Report on the World Nutrition Situation comes at an important time. In the near future human well-being, to which nutrition is fundamental, could improve more rapidly throughout the world; but economic adjustments and mass migration are continuing threats. The results here show steady, if slow, progress in many countries in the last few years....

Published in 1992, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Second Report on the World Nutrition Situation - Volume II: Country Trends Methods and Statistics

Country-level data are intended to illustrate and promote understanding of observed trends in nutrition. They also, importantly, show the variety of situations, smoothed out in the regional data, from rapid improvement to stagnation or deterioration. As discussed in the text, the choice of countries was biased towards those with large populations. This means...

Published in 1993, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Shared experiences in infant and young child feeding in emergencies

The following compilation of case studies was compiled in the course of an ENN/GIFA project on behalf of the Core group who are currently developing training materials for field staff working in infant feeding in emergencies.

Published in 2003, by Emergency Nutrition Network

Targeting Malnutrition Isotopic Tools for Evaluating Nutrition Worldwide

This booklet provides a brief description of pioneering Agency-supported work to evaluate vitamin A and iron deficiencies, bone disease, undernutrition and obesity and the special nutritional requirements of pregnant and lactating women and their children.

Published in 2009, by IAEA

The Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Project Effectiveness and Lessons

The Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Programme (BINP) represented the first large-scale government intervention in nutrition. The program began in 1995; it was followed in 2002 by the National Nutrition Programme (NNP) and is being followed up now with a sector wide health approach. Nutrition also features significantly in the draft poverty reduction...

Published in 2005, by World Bank

Third Report on the World Nutrition Situation

This Third Report on the World Nutrition Situation is part of a series of SCN reports initiated in the mid 80s on nutritional status of populations in developing countries. The centrepiece of earlier reports was estimates of regional trends in underweight of preschool children. This Third Report presents, for the first time, information on global and...

Published in 1997, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition