Resources

Poor nutrition in early life leads to low weight and poor human development leading to an impact on economic growth of nations. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are known to result in a loss of an average of 11% of GDP in Asia and Africa. The returns on investments to prevent stunting and hidden hunger are thus considerable with every US$ 1 invested in interventions to reduce stunting expected to give an average return of US$18.  These findings highlight that investments in cognitive and human capital must begin in early life if children are to achieve their learning potential and benefit from education and training opportunities later in life. This regional report raises a serious concern that poor nutrition in early life is very common in South Asia and is holding back children, their families and nations from prosperity. It emphasizes the need for moving prevention of child stunting and micronutrient deficiencies to the forefront of advocacy, policy, program, and research agendas in the region. This report can be useful for policy makers to identify priority areas for addressing nutrition challenges.  Click here to read the report.