HEART Topic Guide: Nutrition
This Guide provides an overview of undernutrition in the context of development
Abstract
This Topic Guide has been compiled to provide an overview of undernutrition in the context of development. It covers the nature, scale and complex range of causes of undernutrition and summarises the evidence for what works to address the problem. The Guide covers direct nutrition interventions (or nutrition specific development as it is often termed), indirect interventions (nutrition sensitive), and the global coordination structures, governance and funding which are essential for an enabling environment within which undernutrition can be successfully reduced. The focus of this Guide is on undernutrition, defined as the outcome of insufficient food intake (hunger) and repeated infectious diseases. Undernutrition includes being underweight for one’s age, too short for one’s age (stunted), dangerously thin (wasted), and deficient in vitamins and minerals (micronutrient malnutrition). This review does not focus on the other component of malnutrition, which is overnutrition.
Where possible the evidence presented in this Topic Guide was taken from systematic reviews of high quality. Where no systematic reviews were available or appropriate, evidence was included from other sources, including primary and empirical studies, as well as theoretical and conceptual research, deemed to be of high quality. This judgement was reached based on various principles, including conceptual framing, openness, transparency, appropriateness and rigour, validity, reliability and cogency. The body of evidence that has been included is summarised for each section. This assessment is based on the quality, size, content and consistency of the studies included.
Citation
Meeker, J.; Thompson, S.; Barnett, I. HEART Topic Guide - Nutrition. (2013) 40 pp.
Links
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