Commentary

Implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding Saves Lives The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), developed in 1991 by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund to improve maternity care practices and breastfeeding rates, has been implemented globally in more than 152 countries. The core tenets of the BFHI are the Ten […]

DEWORMING DELUSIONS? MASS DRUG ADMINISTRATION IN EAST AFRICAN SCHOOLS. Recent debates about deworming school-aged children in East Africa have been described as the ‘Worm Wars’. The stakes are high. Deworming has become one of the top priorities in the fight against infectious diseases. Staff at the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation and the World […]

Maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks of intervention programs to address micronutrient malnutrition: symposium report Interventions to address micronutrient deficiencies have large potential to reduce the related disease and economic burden. However, the potential risks of excessive micronutrient intakes are often not well determined. During the Global Summit on Food Fortification, 9-11 September 2015, […]

Scaling up breastfeeding programmes in a complex adaptive world. The 2016 Breastfeeding Lancet Series continues to provide unequivocal evidence regarding the numerous benefits that optimal breastfeeding practices offer to children and women worldwide and the major savings that improving these practices can have as a result of their major public health benefits. Unfortunately, this knowledge […]

Capacity-building in the management of moderate acute malnutrition. Evidence from low- and middle-income countries indicates that although there is a willingness to prevent and treat malnutrition at scale, there is very limited capacity to achieve this. Three broad areas of concern are human resources and the quality of services; management systems and supplies; and demand […]

Moderate acute malnutrition: uncovering the known and unknown for more effective prevention and treatment. With a fast-approaching post-Millennium Development Goal era, there is an urgent need to boost global investment in efforts to reduce child malnutrition. Critical to the management of moderate malnutrition, and therefore to the new Sustainable Development Goals, is addressing severe acute […]

Promoting safe infant feeding practices – the importance of structural, social and contextual factors in Southern Africa. There has been significant progress towards the goal of eliminating vertical transmission of HIV by 2015. However, a question that remains is how we can most effectively prevent late postnatal transmission of HIV through infant feeding. Guidelines published […]

What could infant and young child nutrition learn from sweatshops? BACKGROUND: Adequate infant and young child nutrition demands high rates of breastfeeding and good access to nutrient rich complementary foods, requiring public sector action to promote breastfeeding and home based complementary feeding, and private sector action to refrain from undermining breastfeeding and to provide affordable, nutrient […]

Combating hidden hunger: the role of international agencies. The importance of micronutrient deficiencies or “hidden hunger” was clearly emphasized by the inclusion of specific goals on iron, vitamin A, and iodine deficiency at the 1990 World Summit for Children and other major international nutrition conferences. Significant progress has since been made toward eliminating vitamin A […]

Role of public-private partnership in micronutrient food fortification. Iron, iodine, and vitamin A deficiencies prevent 30% of the world’s population from reaching full physical and mental potential. Fortification of commonly eaten foods with micronutrients offers a cost-effective solution that can reach large populations. Effective and sustainable fortification will be possible only if the public sector […]