New Findings in the Lancet Series Reveal Half of All Child Deaths Are Caused By Malnutrition

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Global leaders met today in London to launch the Lancet's "2013 Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition." This new four-part series is a much-anticipated follow-up to their landmark 2008 set of papers that elevated nutrition on the agenda of global health and development leaders. Those reports identified the critical 1,000-day window between pregnancy and a child's second birthday as the most significant indicator of lifelong nutrition, growth, and achievement.

The new series looks at the factors and conditions that sustain healthy infants and children. The first paper looks at how gender issues can influence malnutrition. Other topics include nutrition interventions and creating environments that support nutrition programs.

"The release of these new papers is significant as global leaders assess their first 1,000 days of scaling up maternal and child nutrition programs," said Asma Lateef, director of Bread for the World Institute. "We need to solidify political commitments, and these new reports bolster the earlier findings and will help development leaders set fresh goals."

The new Lancet reports will be discussed during an international meeting on June 10 in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, convened by Bread for the World and Concern Worldwide. Participants will assess progress made since September 2010—nearly 1,000 days ago—when the United States and Ireland launched the 1,000 Days Call to Action and the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, focused on countries with the highest malnutrition rates.  

Speakers during the meeting include Rajiv Shah, administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development; Dr. Robert E. Black, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and author of the Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition; Joe Costello, Minister of the State, Department of Foreign Affairs, and Trade, Ireland; the Hon. Highvie H. Hamududu, member of Parliament and chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Estimates, Zambia; and Juan Carlos Paiz, presidential commissioner for Competitiveness, Investment, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Guatemala.

The international meeting will take place at the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St., SW, Washington, DC 20024. The schedule for the event can be found here. Media are asked to register for the event at http://www.cvent.com/d/fcq6mz/4W.

To join the conversation on Twitter, please use hashtag #Next1000Days. For more information on the Lancet series, including launch event details, access to the complete "2013 Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition," and additional materials and resources, please visit www.globalnutritionseries.org.

Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.

SOURCE Bread for the World