Читать книгу The Road to Good Nutrition - Группа авторов - Страница 100

The world has seen significant developments in the field of nutrition since the development of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were to be reached by 2015, and included ending hunger and reducing underweight as part of MDG number 1.

In 2008, the Lancet published the first landmark series on nutrition, which summarized the magnitude and consequences of the nutrition problem, as well as a number of proven and low-cost solutions. In 2013, the follow-up series on the subject was published. Four critical points made by these two Lancet series are:

i) chronic undernutrition, or stunting, is considered the main nutrition problem because it is a key obstacle for development;

ii) the window to prevent stunting is very small: from conception to two years of age;

iii) stunting at two years of age is associated with ill health, poorer school performance, and an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases later in life; and

iv) economic analyses indicate the negative effects of poor nutrition in early life on the overall economic development of nations.

A stunted child at the age of two is deprived from achieving its full potential for the rest of his/her life, which is an enormous drain on the world’s human resources. Sufficient knowledge exists about effective strategies for prevention, and these strategies should be implemented by all parties concerned.

Prevention of stunting is central to the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, and there is wide recognition that the prevention of stunting should also feature prominently in the post-2015 development agenda.

According to the latest report of UNICEF/WHO/World Bank (2012), 165 million children under 5 are stunted, and many school-age children, adolescents and adults today suffer the consequences of the stunting that they experienced during their early years of life.