Over the last two decades many low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) have developed multi-sectoral nutrition policies to address high rates of malnutrition across their populations. As of 2022, 45 out of 66 Scaling Up for Nutrition (SUN) countries have a national...
Co-coverage of social protection programs and maternal and child nutrition interventions in Bangladesh, India and Nepal
Preprint Article | https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.22.25320966v1 Date of Publication | January 2025 Abstract Social protection programs (SPPs) are common in South Asia, a global malnutrition hotspot. Provision of SPP benefits as well as essential...
Ensuring readiness to monitor the reach of new nutrition interventions: A call to invest in coverage indicator development and validation
When a new nutrition intervention is introduced, stakeholders need to monitor the progress of scale up. However, there is often a lag between the introduction of an intervention and its integration into national data systems, including household surveys and...
Diet quality among mothers and children in India: Roles of social and behavior change communication and nutrition-sensitive social protection programs
Journal Article | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.07.026 Date of Publication | July 2024 Abstract: Background: Limited evidence exists on determinants of maternal and child diet quality. Objectives: This study examined the role of social and behavior change...
Identifying measures for coverage of nutrition-sensitive social protection programs: Learnings from India
Manuscript | https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13661 Date of Publication | June 2024 Abstract: Optimal child growth requires a combination of nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions in the first 1,000 days. There is limited guidance on how to measure the...
Using validity as a criterion for selecting process indicators for the World Health Assembly 2030 nutrition targets
Last week the WHO hosted the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA). Back in 2012, the 65th WHA endorsed a set of six global maternal, infant and young child nutrition targets with an endline of 2025. In May 2024, a proposal was shared with the Member States about extending...
Measuring food fortification coverage in large-scale household surveys: Challenges and opportunities
Micronutrient deficiencies affect 1 in 3 persons globally and contribute to disease and lost productivity. Large-scale food fortification (LSFF) is a widely used strategy to address micronutrient deficiencies by adding micronutrients to staple foods at the point of...
Availability of national policies, programmes, and survey‐based coverage data to track nutrition interventions in South Asia
Manuscript | 10.1111/mcn.13555 Date of Publication | January 2024 Abstract: Progress to improve nutrition among women, infants and children in South Asia has fallen behind the pace needed to meet established global targets. Renewed political commitment and monitoring...
Making school feeding count for nutrition: A call for investing in more and better data
Poverty pushes almost one in every 10 children around the world to skip school and work to earn. Such conditions can perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition. Amid all this, can school help? School meal programs have emerged as a beacon of hope,...
Who is being reached by nutrition-sensitive social protection programs? Advancing methods for measuring NSSP coverage using household surveys
Nutrition-sensitive social protection (NSSP) refers to a subset of social protection poverty alleviation programs that include targeting approaches, interventions, and conditions to address the underlying determinants of malnutrition (Ruel 2013). Design features that...
Improving multi-sectoral nutrition coverage measurement: The One Nutrition Coverage Survey in Bangladesh
Over the last two decades many low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) have developed multi-sectoral nutrition policies to address high rates of malnutrition across their populations. As of 2022, 45 out of 66 Scaling Up for Nutrition (SUN) countries have a national...
Co-coverage of social protection programs and maternal and child nutrition interventions in Bangladesh, India and Nepal
Preprint Article | https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.22.25320966v1 Date of Publication | January 2025 Abstract Social protection programs (SPPs) are common in South Asia, a global malnutrition hotspot. Provision of SPP benefits as well as essential...
Ensuring readiness to monitor the reach of new nutrition interventions: A call to invest in coverage indicator development and validation
When a new nutrition intervention is introduced, stakeholders need to monitor the progress of scale up. However, there is often a lag between the introduction of an intervention and its integration into national data systems, including household surveys and...
Diet quality among mothers and children in India: Roles of social and behavior change communication and nutrition-sensitive social protection programs
Journal Article | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.07.026 Date of Publication | July 2024 Abstract: Background: Limited evidence exists on determinants of maternal and child diet quality. Objectives: This study examined the role of social and behavior change...
Identifying measures for coverage of nutrition-sensitive social protection programs: Learnings from India
Manuscript | https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13661 Date of Publication | June 2024 Abstract: Optimal child growth requires a combination of nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions in the first 1,000 days. There is limited guidance on how to measure the...
Using validity as a criterion for selecting process indicators for the World Health Assembly 2030 nutrition targets
Last week the WHO hosted the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA). Back in 2012, the 65th WHA endorsed a set of six global maternal, infant and young child nutrition targets with an endline of 2025. In May 2024, a proposal was shared with the Member States about extending...
Measuring food fortification coverage in large-scale household surveys: Challenges and opportunities
Micronutrient deficiencies affect 1 in 3 persons globally and contribute to disease and lost productivity. Large-scale food fortification (LSFF) is a widely used strategy to address micronutrient deficiencies by adding micronutrients to staple foods at the point of...
Availability of national policies, programmes, and survey‐based coverage data to track nutrition interventions in South Asia
Manuscript | 10.1111/mcn.13555 Date of Publication | January 2024 Abstract: Progress to improve nutrition among women, infants and children in South Asia has fallen behind the pace needed to meet established global targets. Renewed political commitment and monitoring...
Making school feeding count for nutrition: A call for investing in more and better data
Poverty pushes almost one in every 10 children around the world to skip school and work to earn. Such conditions can perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition. Amid all this, can school help? School meal programs have emerged as a beacon of hope,...
Who is being reached by nutrition-sensitive social protection programs? Advancing methods for measuring NSSP coverage using household surveys
Nutrition-sensitive social protection (NSSP) refers to a subset of social protection poverty alleviation programs that include targeting approaches, interventions, and conditions to address the underlying determinants of malnutrition (Ruel 2013). Design features that...