Conclusion
Through the Sustainable Development Goals, the world has set the ambitious aim to achieve food security and end malnutrition in all its forms by 2030 [42]. Progress to achieving this goal for children is lagging, and the global prevalence of stunting, wasting, overweight, and micronutrient malnutrition remains unacceptably high. Several countries have made progress to address stunting, but many are unlikely to achieve the targets unless progress is accelerated substantially [7]. Childhood overweight is increasing in most regions, and with the limited data available, little progress has been made to addressing micronutrient malnutrition. Equally concerning is the lack of up-to-date representative data of the magnitude and distribution of malnutrition in all its forms and their determinants at national and subnational level. Beyond simply tracking progress, a more profound understanding of the contextual etiology of the various forms of malnutrition is urgently needed to inform effective action.
Disclosure Statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
References
1Williams AM, Suchdev PS: Assessing and improving childhood nutrition and growth globally. Pediatr Clin North Am 2017;64:755–768.
2International Food Policy Research Institute. Global Nutrition Report: From Promise to Impact: Ending Malnutrition by 2030. Washington DC, 2016.
3WHO. Global nutrition targets 2025: stunting policy brief (WHO/NMH/NHD/14.3). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014.
4Black MM, Walker SP, Fernald LC, et al: Early childhood development coming of age: Science through the life course. Lancet 2017;389:77–90.
5Stephensen CB: Burden of infection on growth failure. J Nutr 1999;129(2S suppl):534S–538S.
6Hoddinott J, Behrman JR, Maluccio JA, et al: Adult consequences of growth failure in early childhood. Am J Clin Nutr 2013;98:1170–1178.
7Fanzo J, Hawkes C: 2018 Global Nutrition Report. Dev Initiat 2018 (cited March 19, 2019). https://globalnutritionreport.org/reports/global-nutrition-report-2018/.
8John CC, Black MM, Nelson CA 3rd: Neurodevelopment: the impact of nutrition and inflammation during early to middle childhood in low-resource settings. Pediatrics 2017;139(suppl 1):S59–S71.
9UNICEF: Malnutrition in Children. UNICEF DATA 2018 (cited March 19, 2019). https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/.
10Ritchie H, Roser M: Micronutrient Deficiency. Our World Data 2017 (cited April 11, 2019). https://ourworldindata.org/micronutrient-deficiency.
11FAO: Preventing Micronutrient Malnutrition a Guide to Food-Based Approaches – Why Policy Makers Should Give Priority to Food-Based Strategies. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (cited May 14, 2019). http://www.fao.org/3/x0245e/x0245e01.htm#P38_2721.
12Popkin BM, Gordon-Larsen P: The nutrition transition: worldwide obesity dynamics and their determinants. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2004;28(suppl 3):S2–S9.
13Osendarp SJ, Martinez H, Garrett GS, et al: Large-scale food fortification and biofortification in low- and middle-income countries: a review of programs, trends, challenges, and evidence gaps. Food Nutr Bull 2018;39:315–331.
14World Health Organization: Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System (VMNIS)|Micronutrients database (cited May 14, 2019). Geneva, Switzerland, WHO. http://www.who.int/vmnis/database/en/.
15Wessells KR, Brown KH: Estimating the global prevalence of zinc deficiency: results based on zinc availability in national food supplies and the prevalence of stunting. PLoS One 2012;7:e50568.
16Beal T, Massiot E, Arsenault JE, et al: Global trends in dietary micronutrient supplies and estimated prevalence of inadequate intakes. PLoS One 2017;12:e0175554.
17Diana A, Haszard JJ, Purnamasari DM, et al: Iron, zinc, vitamin A and selenium status in a cohort of Indonesian infants after adjusting for inflammation using several different approaches. Br J Nutr 2017;118:830–839.
18Stoltzfus RJ, Klemm R: Research, policy, and programmatic considerations from the biomarkers reflecting inflammation and nutritional determinants of anemia (BRINDA) project. Am J Clin Nutr 2017;106(suppl 1):428S–434S.
19Wirth JP, Petry N, Tanumihardjo SA, et al: Vitamin A supplementation programs and country-level evidence of vitamin A deficiency. Nutrients 2017;9:pii:E190.
20Harika R, Faber M, Samuel F, et al: Are low intakes and deficiencies in iron, vitamin A, zinc, and iodine of public health concern in Ethiopian, Kenyan, Nigerian, and South African children and adolescents? Food Nutr Bull 2017;38:405–427.
21Roth DE, Abrams SA, Aloia J, et al: Global prevalence and disease burden of vitamin D deficiency: a roadmap for action in low- and middle-income countries. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2018;1430:44–79.
22Hilger J, Goerig T, Weber P, et al: Micronutrient intake in healthy toddlers: A multinational perspective. Nutrients 2015;7:6938–6955.
23Kosaka S, Umezaki M: A systematic review of the prevalence and predictors of the double burden