Nutrition and Health

Type Book Section - Nutrition in Humanitarian Crises
Title Nutrition and Health
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2017
Page numbers 647-664
Publisher Springer
URL https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-43739-2_29
Abstract
Never before has the world been faced with the vast number, scale and complexity of humanitarian crises than today. More people in more countries are being affected, and greater resources are required to save lives than ever before. Humanitarian crises have a wide range of consequences on global peace, economics, infrastructure, markets, food production, health and child practices. Directly and indirectly these consequences all impact on nutritional status, particularly during the 1000 days from conception to 2 years of age. This chapter describes the consequences of humanitarian crises, how they impact on nutrition and the importance of understanding the nutrition situation prior to the crisis. With the transition of malnutrition and the double burden in many countries, the nutrition response should focus on the broader nutrition problem as opposed to a sole focus on acute malnutrition. In addition to health, social protection and other services, the nutrition response during a crisis should ensure optimal nutrient intake, particularly during the first 1000 days. Moving forward, greater investments in nutrition in non-crisis periods are needed, with a special focus on developing stronger capacity for nutrition in emergencies.

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