Last month the Micronutrient Forum (MNF) released a Micronutrient Data Generation Initiative Strategic Plan—a comprehensive strategy for how to fill long-standing gaps in data on the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies across low- and middle-income countries. The strategy is noteworthy on multiple levels, but in particular for its theory of change which describes the steps and enabling factors required to achieve…
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Measuring the Effectiveness of Nutrition Advocacy
What is advocacy for nutrition policy? Many policy reforms emerge after sustained periods of advocacy. In the field of nutrition, advocates have played a critical role in raising awareness about the causes and consequences of malnutrition and which interventions governments should pursue to improve the health of their populations. Advocacy can be defined as “a continuous and adaptive process of…
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Assessing data visualization literacy and preferences for more effective approaches to visualize nutrition data in Nigeria
Data visualization is widely used in nutrition to summarize and communicate nutrition data. There are several aspects of data visualization that make it a viable strategy to neatly collate information and (hopefully) provoke action: (1) humans more rapidly process visual information compared to text; (2) design principles can be applied to attune with humans’ short-term memory; and (3) research has…
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Mind the (Data) Gap: Understanding the gender dimensions of food security
Gender is a social determinant of health which can have a significant impact on an individual’s nutrition status. The 2020 Global Nutrition Report (GNR) Nutrition Equity Framework illustrates how basic and underlying determinants, including gender, are interlinked and contribute towards nutrition inequity. Sociocultural perception of gender affects power dynamics and access to nutrition services and interventions. For example, gendered norms…
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Revisiting Core Indicators: Principles from the updated WHO-UNICEF Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) indicator guidance
In April 2021, WHO and UNICEF released updated definitions and measurement guidance for indicators to assess infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices. Originally released in 2008, indicators of diet quality for children 0-23 months of age have been an essential tool for policy makers and program planners within and across low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). The indicators, which…
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Creating Effective Accountability DVTs: Four Lessons from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum Nutrition Scorecard
The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) is a non-partisan policy-hub dedicated to promoting good governance and development at the sub-national level. The forum has a strong track record of using data to inform decision-making and improve advocacy among Nigeria’s Governors. For example, the NGF designed and implemented several state-level scorecards to engage Governors around key policy issues including polio eradication, state-supported…
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Advancing the data and accountability agenda for maternal and child undernutrition
On International Women’s Day, 8 March 2021, a Lancet series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition (MCUN) Progress was launched as part of the Nutrition Year of Action—a year-long effort to drive momentum on tackling malnutrition ahead of the 2021 Nutrition for Growth Summit. The goal of the series is to accelerate progress towards reaching the 2025 World Health Assembly nutrition targets and…
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Nutrition-Sensitive Social Protection Programs: What, Why and How Can We Measure Them?
What is nutrition-sensitive social protection? Nutrition-sensitive sectors address the underlying determinants of maternal and child malnutrition (e.g. food security, education), and investments in these sectors are critical to global strategies for eliminating undernutrition. As a cross-cutting dimension, social protection is core to nutrition-sensitive actions. Social protection initiatives aim to protect families from poverty and vulnerability by offering a mix of…
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Standing Together for Better Nutrition Data during COVID-19 and Beyond
Since mid-2020, DataDENT team members have been actively involved in Standing Together for Nutrition (STfN)—a multidisciplinary consortium of economics, nutrition, and health systems experts committed to addressing COVID-related nutrition challenges. To date the consortium has released two papers presenting results from modeling exercises that project the impacts of COVID-related interruptions to economic and health systems on maternal and child nutrition…
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What data do nutrition stakeholders use and how can we better meet their needs?
The global nutrition community is remarkably diverse: its stakeholders include people working in vastly different fields, from health to agriculture, to water and sanitation and in roles ranging from program management to policy development to issue-based advocacy. Some work for small community-based organizations while others work for national governments, or huge multilateral or UN organizations with a global focus. It’s logical…