Overview on the impacts of nutrition-sensitive intervention on dietary diversity and nutritional status of women and children in developing countries

Abstract

Introduction: Globally, two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, 151 million children under five suffer from stunting, and millions more have impaired cognitive development related to poor nutrition. This is partly due to insufficient consumption of animal-sourced foods, which supply multiple bioavailable nutrients that are lacking in cereal-based diets.

Objective: To synthesize evidence on the impact of nutrition-sensitive intervention on dietary diversity and nutritional status of women and children focusing on developing countries

Methods: The review is based on a systematic search of the published and unpublished literature. No institutional review approval was required for this study as humans were not involved.

Results: It was analyzed to see what previous efforts related to enhancing the dietary diversity of women and children were in place. Based on this, six studies showed that children under 5 years of age suffer from stunting caused by diets of insufficient quality and quantity, improper care and feeding practices in early life. Besides, it was found that the knowledge about the linkages between agriculture and nutrition are still limited. The major gap observed in nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions is found to be lack of multi-sector collaboration for tackling malnutrition. None of the studies assessed showed whether nutrition-specific interventions should be jointly or separately applied for tackling malnutrition. 

Conclusion:  It is found that the knowledge about the linkages between agriculture and nutrition are still limited. A multi-sectorial approach is mainly required to tackle nutrition security in general and dietary diversity in particular.