Preventing and detecting malnutrition in children
Building on our remarkable progress in improving child nutrition
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Every child has the right to good nutrition. Well-nourished children grow up healthy, reach their full potential, and lead happy, successful lives. Good nutrition helps them stay out of poverty, learn better, and fully participate in their communities. Over the past two decades, we've made remarkable progress in improving child nutrition, including reducing the number of children suffering from stunting by one-third globally.
Although strides have been made, the fight against child wasting – the most severe form of child malnutrition – has not achieved equally positive results. Child wasting occurs when children don't get enough nutrients or suffer from repeated bouts of disease, leading to weakened immunity, unhealthy gut microbiome, long-term developmental delays, and a higher risk of death.
The Child Nutrition Fund is fully committed to preventing child wasting and other forms of undernutrition in children. We work with national governments to strengthen their policies, programmes, practices and supplies to deliver a comprehensive package of essential nutrition interventions, aiming to reach at least 250 million children every year by 2030.
Programmes to prevent malnutrition include:
Encouraging and supporting mothers to breastfeed their babies so they get the best start in life.
Improving the quality of children’s first foods by offering them special foods rich in proteins and nutrients or providing caregivers with micronutrient powders that can be sprinkled on their children’s food to keep them healthy.
Supporting families with the right nutrition counselling to keep their children strong and well-nourished.
Giving children under age 5 two doses of vitamin A each year and regular deworming treatments to protect their immune system and prevent infection.
Identifying and referring children with early signs of malnutrition to prevent serious health problems.