Investing in Nutrition: A Global Best Investment Case

Abstract

Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are key drivers of infant and child mortality and are causes of impaired human potential for hundreds of millions of children every year. Investing in nutrition in the first 1,000 days from conception not only supports individual lifetime health, education, and productivity, but is also key to breaking the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition and enhance equitable development pathways for low- and middle-income countries. This paper provides a cost–benefit analysis of three nutrition interventions: 1) provision of preventive small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) to children 6−23 months of age; 2) Complementary Feeding Promotion (CFP) for children 6−23 months of age; 3) provision of multiple micronutrient (MMN) and calcium (Ca) supplements to pregnant women. The benefit–cost ratios (BCRs) for MMN supplementation for pregnant women replacing iron and folic acid (37.5), as well as MMN and Ca combined (19-24), are the highest. The BCRs for CFP for children in the two highest socio-economic status (SES) quintiles and SQ-LNS for children in the three lowest SES quintiles are fairly similar at 16 and 14, respectively. The lowest BCR is for CFP for children in the three lowest SES quintiles due to the high cost of accomplishing behavioral change for improved complementary feeding in resource-poor households.