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Working group: Capacity Development in Food and Nutrition

Anthropometric Indicators Measurement Guide

GUIDELINES on Anthropometric Impact Indicators detailing how to collect and analyse anthropometric data through nutrition surveys. These guidelines were designed for Maternal and Child Health programme monitoring and draw extensively on materials from the Anthropometry Resource Center, funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization's Southern African...

Published in 2003, by FANTA

Brief 1 of 12 - Nutrition: Making the Case

Nutrition: A Foundation for Development. Why Practitioners in Development Should Integrate Nutrition In the past 20 years hundreds of millions of people have benefited from improved living standards. Many countries have experienced increases in life expectancy, growth in per capita food production and gross domestic product, improvements in school...

Published in 2002, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Economic Growth, Equity and Nutritional Improvement in Indonesia

A country case study supported by UNICEF for the XV congress of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, September 26 to October 1, 1993, Adelaide.

Published in 1992, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

FAO Food Security Information for Action Distance Learning Material

DISTANCE LEARNING materials designed for self-paced e-learning, developed by international experts to support capacity building and on-the-job Training and Workshops at national and local food security information systems and networks. Free of charge registration provides access to the materials.

Published in 2007, by FAO

Fifth Report on the World Nutrition Situation

The 5th Report continues the tradition of reporting on trends in nutrition throughout the life cycle and of challenging the nutrition community. But instead of asking the question: how is nutrition affected by global changes? the 5th Report asks the question more proactively: how can a nutrition perspective accelerate the attainment of a comprehensive set of...

Published in 2004, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

First Report on the World Nutrition Situation

The overall objectives of the report are to provide an agreed basis for raising awareness of malnutrition - its extent, severity and trends - to advocate that increased attention be given to preventing this extensive and serious human problem. The report, through the indicators and their interpretation, should demonstrate the inter-sectoral nature of the...

Published in 1987, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

First Report on the World Nutrition Situation - Supplement on Methods and Statistics

This supplement to the ACC/SCN's First Report on the World Nutrition Situation essentially expands section 4 of that report - the Technical Notes - to give more details, for two main purposes. In the first place, it was felt that an understanding of what is known about the world nutrition situation needs considerable detail on sources of data, assumptions,...

Published in 1988, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Fourth Report on the World Nutrition Situation Nutrition throughout the Life Cycle

The Fourth Report on the World Nutrition Situation is part of a series of ACC/SCN reports initiated in the mid-1980s on the nutritional status of populations in developing countries. While earlier reports have focused on regional trends in preschool undernutrition, this report is built around the theme nutrition throughout the life cycle. This change was...

Published in 2000, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

From Food Crisis to Fair Trade; Livelihood Analysis, Protection and Support in Emergencies

This report supplement aims to collate and analyse recent experiences of livelihoods programming in emergencies. The document provides guidance on livelihoods programming, includes practical examples from the field and summarises recent thinking. It provides an overview of what livelihoods programming is and examples of the range of interventions that are...

Published in 2006, by ENN, Oxfam

Gender Handbook in Humanitarian Action

This Handbook sets forth standards for the integration of gender issues from the outset of a new complex emergency or disaster, so that humanitarian services provided neither exacerbate nor inadvertently put people at risk; reach their target audience; and have maximum positive impact. The target audience for this Handbook is field practitioners...

Published in 2006, by Inter-Agency Standing Committee

Improving Nutrition Programmes an Assessment Tool for Action

ASSESSMENT TOOL aimed at strengthening community-based food and nutrition programmes at country level increasing the ability to address the causes of malnutrition. It sets out a methodology in four sections covering programme design, the macroenvironment, the microenvironment, and sustainability. The Assessment Tool is used for making suggestions for action...

Published in 2005, by FAO

Improving Nutrition: Issues in Management and Capacity Development

The World Bank has not yet defined the main issues in management and capacity development in nutrition, nor has it developed methodologies for governments and project staff to identify and deal with these issues and systematically improve capacity. This issues paper is intended as a starting-point for developing the Bank’s professional capacity in...

Published in 2002, by World Bank

India's Tamil Nadu Nutrition Program: Lessons and Issues in Management and Capacity Development

The Tamil Nadu Nutrition Program is one of very few around the world which have reduced malnutrition on a large scale, and over a long period. It did well because it coupled good strategies and strong commitment at the sectoral level with good micro-design at the field level.

Published in 2002, by World Bank

NUTRITION - A Guide to Data Collection, Analysis, Interpretation and Use

Manual aimed at mid-level managers in all sectors who would like to better understand nutrition information and its use. The manual sets out all the steps involved in nutrition data collection and analysis including practical guidance for use by survey enumerators, health facility workers and other field workers. Additional materials have also been prepared...

Published in 2005, by FSAU, FAO

Nutrition in India

The report is divided into two parts. The first part comprises a detailed national nutrition situation analysis, with data as far as possible disaggregated by state. It includes data on nutrition and mortality outcome vis−a−vis age, sex and socioeconomic status. Changing trends in food consumption and nutritional status of children and adults are...

Published in 1992, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 01 - Nutrition Education: A State-of-the-art Review

How well or poorly does nutrition education work? Does it deal better with some nutrition problems than with others? Do some kinds of nutrition education produce better results than other kinds? These are the sorts of questions addressed by Dr. Robert Hornik and a panel of distinguished discussants in the pages that follow. From their answers emerges a...

Published in 1985, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 03 - The Prevention and Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders

This paper is the third in the ACC/SCN's State-of-the-Art series. Like the two previous papers, on nutrition education and control of vitamin A deficiency, it provides information to assist decisions on policies and programmes to prevent widespread nutritional problems. Iodine deficiency is one of these, affecting some 200 million people. Yet science and...

Published in 1988, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 04 - Women's Role in Food Chain Activities and the Implications for Nutrition

We hope that the wide-ranging information herein will further the crucially important cause of women, specifically in relation to nutrition, in several ways. First, women's central role in providing for adequate nutrition - of families, communities, and indeed nations - in being described here in detail should help to give increased prominence to the need...

Published in 1989, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 06 - Women and Nutrition

Women, throughout most of the world, have the major responsibility for their families' nutrition. Their own nutrition is often impaired, under the social and biological stresses they face. Developments that improve women's position in society are likely to improve nutrition overall, and are essential for this. Equally, any activities aimed at preventing...

Published in 1990, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 07 - Appropriate Uses of Anthropometric Indices in Children

The use of anthropometry has increased rapidly in recent years. With this wider use, it has become even more important that the interpretation of results, for the individual and for populations, should be correct and well understood. I requested the Advisory Group on Nutrition at its first meeting in 1988 to help to define the issues. This led to the AGN...

Published in 1990, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 08 - Managing Successful Nutrition Programmes

Because undernutrition and malnutrition are the result of different economic and social determinants, it is difficult in field studies - not being double blind, randomized and placebo controlled - to attribute significant outcomes to specific interventions. And yet the need for successful nutrition programmes is becoming more compelling. They are required by...

Published in 1991, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 10 - Nutrition-relevant Actions

'Nutrition' has been used in the past to describe both an input (consumption of nutrients) as well as a set of outcomes. Some of the confusion about the scope of actions to improve nutrition may be cleared up by distinguishing causality and effect. Thus, if nutrition is to be seen as an input, then the focus will be primarily on food. If it is to be viewed...

Published in 1991, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 15 - How Nutrition Improves

Viewing improved nutrition as an outcome of development processes expands the area of concern for policy-makers and practitioners who seek to combat malnutrition. These processes operate at different levels in society, from (he individual through to the whole arena of governmental policy and indeed international relationships. The SCN, in deciding on...

Published in 1996, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 16 - Nutrition and Poverty

This report presents a collection of papers discussed at the 24th Session of the United Nations Sub-Committee on Nutrition, held in March 1997 in Kathmandu. The Symposium presenters and discussants traced the origins of child malnutrition to low birth weight, maternal deprivation and discrimination against girls and women in South Asia. Malnutrition in the...

Published in 1997, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 17 - Challenges for the 21st Century: A Gender Perspective on Nutrition through the Life Cycle

To accelerate progress in tackling malnutrition, adequate food, health, and care must be ensured throughout the lifecycle. Good nutrition during pregnancy reduces the likelihood of low birth weight and improves pregnancy outcomes. Promotion of growth and development in the young infant and child leads to a well-nourished school-aged child who can participate...

Published in 1998, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No 19 - What Works? A Review of the Efficacy and Effectiveness of Nutrition Interventions

This review takes the perspective of low-income Asia, because the study was commissioned by the Asian Development Bank to inform its policy dialogue with Asian governments. We believe the review will be useful for ADB and all development partners selecting nutrition interventions as stand-alone activities or components in integrated social development...

Published in 2001, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Protecting and Promoting Good Nutrition in Crisis and Recovery

GUIDELINES designed to further the development of a more strategic focus that strengthens programme planners' capacity to protect and promote good nutrition in crisis situations. Its purpose is to establish a common vision and standpoint from which to assess, analyse and improve nutritional well-being in a variety of emergency contexts. It will be relevant...

Published in 2005, by FAO

Refugee Nutrition Information System No 25 - Report on the Nutrition Situation of Refugee and Displaced Populations

This issue of the RNIS Report reviews some of the changes in emergency response over the last five years. It starts by highlighting situations where wasting was brought rapidly under control. It then looks at some of the factors that have led to less than optimal results, followed by what has been accomplished to improve response over the last five years. It...

Published in 1998, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Review of Trends, Policies and Programmes Affecting Nutrition and Health in Egypt (1970-1990)

The main objective of this report is to review the different policies, as well as programs affecting health and nutrition status of Egyptians over the period 1970−1990. The study will attempt to outline and examine Critically the major trends in the health and nutrition status of the Egyptians in the light of: − the Egyptian socio−economic setting; ...

Published in 1992, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Schools for nutrition

Out of ten children born in developing countries, one will die before his or her fifth birthday, for a disturbing total of more than 10 million young lives lost each year. In more than half of these deaths, undernutrition is an important factor. Clearly, something needs to be done to combat this emergency, and the IAEA is playing its part. With three events...

Published in 2007, by Lena Davidsson, IAEA

SCN News No 01 - Vitamin A Deficiency, Urbanization

Recent evidence that vitamin A supplementation may save the lives - as well as the sight - of children affected by the eye disease xerophthalmia due to vitamin A deficiency has given new urgency to a 10-year United Nations programme aimed at the control and prevention of vitamin A deficiency. Launched by a UN interagency meeting in October 1985, the...

Published in 1988, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 02 - First Report on the World Nutrition Situation

The first United Nations inter-agency report on the World Nutrition Situation was issued in December 1987, by the ACC/SCN. Trends in the numbers of underfed and malnourished people in developing countries are described, starting in the sixties and highlighting changes in the last five years, using indicators of population, food availability, child nutrition...

Published in 1989, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 03 - Does Cash Cropping Affect Nutrition

Food first, or agriculture for export? Does growing food protect nutrition, whereas cash-cropping cause famines? Are subsistence farmers lured into the cash economy, growing inedible crops and then finding themselves unable to feed their families? Based on recent research and new thinking, some tentative answers to such questions are now being found.

Published in 1989, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 05 - Nutrition and School Performance

The education of children all over the world is being held back by malnutrition. In humanitarian terms, it makes no sense that the children who manage to get to school cannot benefit fully from their education, because they are already malnourished, because they are currently hungry, or because of infection. Nearly 90% of the world's school children will be...

Published in 1990, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 12 - The Role of Care in Nutrition; Specific Deficiencies versus Growth Failure

The three main features of this issue of SCN News are: The role of care in nutrition - The causes of poor child nutrition are undergoing a substantial reassessment with recent understanding of the importance of care. Specific deficiencies versus growth failure - Two types of responses have been identified when a child's intake of an essential nutrient is...

Published in 1995, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 13 - Behavioural Change and Nutrition Programmes; Poor Nutrition and Chronic Disease

This issue of SCN News features a report of discussions at the ACC/SCN symposium on behavioural change and nutrition programmes as well as a report of the proceedings of the ACC/SCN symposium on nutrition in the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and obesity in developing countries.

Published in 1995, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 14 - Meeting the Nutrition Challenge

The focus of this issue of SCN News is on the nutrition challenge in the 21st century. New estimates of trends in malnutrition show some improvement worldwide, but at a substantially slower rate in the last few years than in the 1980s. This slowdown is cause for concern. It means that while the end of hunger and malnutrition had been coming into sight in the...

Published in 1997, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 15 - Effective Programmes in Africa for Improving Nutrition

This SCN News presents an overview of the Symposium 'Effective Programmes in Africa for Improving Nutrition, including Household Food Security' which was held at the SCN's 23rd Session in Accra, Ghana in February 1996.

Published in 1997, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 22 - Nutrition Goals and Targets

This issue of SCN News is devoted to nutrition goals and targets. This topic is both timely and important because two major upcoming international meetings will review achievements towards nutrition goals set in the 90s. These are the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in September which marks the tenth anniversary of the...

Published in 2001, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 24 - Nutrition in the Context of Conflict and Crisis

For this issue of SCN News the Secretariat team presents the full set of papers delivered at the 29th session in Berlin in March 2002 on the theme nutrition in conflict and crisis. The symposium touched upon the politics of humanitarian aid delivery, livelihood security, and the right to food and nutrition during emergencies.

Published in 2002, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 25 - School-age Children: Their Health and Nutrition

This issue of SCN News features a comprehensive review of the nutrition and health status of school-age children, an initiative of the SCN Working Group on Nutrition of the School-Age Child chaired very ably during 2000-2002 by Don Bundy of the World Bank. For many decades a neglected age group, the nutritional well being of children six to 18 years reflects...

Published in 2002, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 26 – Mainstreaming Nutrition for Improved Development Outcomes

The SCN’s 30th Annual session focused on efforts to mainstream nutrition and accelerate progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are a set of goals, targets and indicators to improve human development outcomes by 2015, and the nutrition community is poised to lead this process toward increased human well being. Yet the...

Published in 2003, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 27 – Meeting the Challenge to Improve Complementary Feeding

This issue of SCN News focuses on the critical period of complementary feeding, and its importance to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Dr Chessa Lutter, from the Pan American Health Organization, has compiled a series of articles which depicts the challenges and possibilities to improving complementary feeding for young children.

Published in 2003, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 28 - Nutrition and the Millennium Development Goals

On 22 March 2004, international development practitioners and nutrition technocrats and scientists met at the United Nations in New York for the SCN Symposium on Nutrition as the key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Symposium focused on nutrition’s role in accelerating improvements in poverty reduction, sustainable development and...

Published in 2004, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 30 - Closing the Gap on the Right to Adequate Food: The Voluntary Guidelines

The focus of this edition of SCN News is on the challenges provided by the new Voluntary Guidelines on realizing the right to adequate food, adopted by the FAO Council last November. The papers include the SCN’s experience of developing case studies on how to strengthen food and nutrition components of national poverty reduction plans. They describe the...

Published in 2005, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 32 - Tackling the Double Burden of Malnutrition: A Global Agenda

SCN News No 32 - Tackling the Double Burden of Malnutrition: A Global Agenda. This issue provides the outcomes of the 33rd Annual Session focusing on Tackling the Double Burden of Malnutrition. This is the first time the SCN addresses malnutrition in all its forms affecting both the developing and industrialized worlds. The objective was to develop clear...

Published in 2006, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 33 - Diet-related Chronic Diseases and the Double Burden of Malnutrition in West Africa

This issue of the SCN News features the papers presented at the Nutrition Forum meeting in Cape Verde. This is the results of a new collaborative arrangement between the SCN and the West African Health Organization (WAHO) of the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS). The Nutrition Forum of ECOWAS brings together the nutrition focal points of...

Published in 2006, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 34 - Working Together to End Child Hunger and Undernutrition

This SCN News features papers based on presentations made at the Symposium at the 34th SCN Session at FAO, Rome 26 February 2007. The Symposium focused on what we know in theory and what are best practices for creating increased system cohesiveness at all levels in order to accelerate progress towards ending child hunger and undernutrition.

Published in 2007, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 35 - Universal Salt Iodization (USI)

This edition of the SCN News is about one of the greatest success stories in international nutrition, that of Universal Salt Iodization. Although much still remains to be done, remarkable advances have been achieved in the fight against Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) in the last two decades.

Published in 2007, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 36 - Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal and Child Undernutrition

This edition of the SCN News is of special relevance for a variety of reasons, not least of which being the recommendations agreed at the 35th Session held in Hanoi in March 2008, hosted by the Government of Vietnam. The 35th Session was aimed at understanding how to accelerate the reduction of maternal and child undernutrition, drawing on the recently...

Published in 2008, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Second Report on the World Nutrition Situation - Volume I: Global and Regional Results

This Second Report on the World Nutrition Situation comes at an important time. In the near future human well-being, to which nutrition is fundamental, could improve more rapidly throughout the world; but economic adjustments and mass migration are continuing threats. The results here show steady, if slow, progress in many countries in the last few years....

Published in 1992, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Second Report on the World Nutrition Situation - Volume II: Country Trends Methods and Statistics

Country-level data are intended to illustrate and promote understanding of observed trends in nutrition. They also, importantly, show the variety of situations, smoothed out in the regional data, from rapid improvement to stagnation or deterioration. As discussed in the text, the choice of countries was biased towards those with large populations. This means...

Published in 1993, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation in the World Bank's Nutrition Portfolio

Recent developments in the World Bank towards a greater emphasis on results based management, on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and a shift away from vertical programs towards programmatic lending and poverty reduction strategy credits (PRSCs) provided a backdrop to this discussion meeting on monitoring and evaluation for nutrition. The...

Published in 2003, by World Bank

Thailand's National Nutrition Program: Lessons in Management and Capacity Development

Thailand’s community nutrition program has been the most successful in Asia. This paper looks at what made it work from a management and capacity development point of view.

Published in 2002, by World Bank

Third Report on the World Nutrition Situation

This Third Report on the World Nutrition Situation is part of a series of SCN reports initiated in the mid 80s on nutritional status of populations in developing countries. The centrepiece of earlier reports was estimates of regional trends in underweight of preschool children. This Third Report presents, for the first time, information on global and...

Published in 1997, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Update on the Nutrition Situation - 1994

This report updates the results given in the Second Report on the World Nutrition Situation. New data available at country level1 give recent trends in prevalences of underweight children, as the main nutritional indicator, in 18 countries. These can be compared with those reported in Volume II, to give a total of 46 national trend estimates for the 1980s...

Published in 1994, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

Update on the Nutrition Situation - Recent Trends in Nutrition in 33 Countries

The report aims to describe recent trends in nutrition and certain potential determining factors, country-by-country. The approach is unavoidably ad hoc, due to the variable availability of data. Selected indicators of likely determinants of year-to-year change are emphasized, especially related to economic stress. Such factors are thought to be having...

Published in 1989, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition