Beaudette-Thompson Lecture: "A ‘Good News’ Story About Preventing Child Undernutrition in Lower-Income Countries: A Journey from Research to Implementation" - Kathryn G. Dewey, Ph.D., DFASN
Nutritional Sciences Beaudette-Thompson Lecture:
"A ‘Good News’ Story About Preventing Child Undernutrition in Lower-Income Countries: A Journey from Research to Implementation"
Kathryn G. Dewey, Ph.D., DFASN
Distinguished Professor Emerita Department of Nutrition
University of California, Davis
Malnutrition during the first 1000 days, from conception until two years of age, has lifelong consequences for human health and development, impacting billions of people worldwide as well as the economic development of low- and middle-income countries. This lecture will describe how UC Davis researchers tackled the problem, starting with research to understand key challenges and compare promising approaches, and culminating in the development and evaluation of an innovative food-based preventive intervention, small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS). After conducting numerous randomized trials of SQ-LNS in Africa and South Asia, UC Davis researchers partnered with other investigators to conduct meta-analyses of 14 trials including more than 37,000 children. The resulting evidence base led to SQ-LNS being recently identified by global institutions such as WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank as a cost-effective intervention to reduce child stunting, wasting, anemia, mortality and developmental delay. The final “leg” of the journey has included establishment of a task force to catalyze efforts to scale-up implementation of SQ-LNS for the prevention of undernutrition among infants and young children in nutritionally vulnerable settings.