New Lancet Series on Malnutrition Scheduled for May 2013

Back in 2008, the journal the Lancet published 5 papers on undernutrition: exposures, levels and trends, consequences (health and other human capital), what works, and what to do to accelerate undernutrition reduction at the national and international levels.

It’s fair to say that this series, together with the food price crisis of 2008, played a key role in pushing nutrition higher up the development agenda. Today, over 30 countries have joined the Scaling Up Nutrition movement.

Earlier this week I was at a kick-off meeting for the follow up series of papers, hosted by the series lead, Prof. Bob Black at Johns Hopkins University’s School of International Health. This series will comprise 4 papers, and is set to analyse, among other things: (a) what has been learned in and from the past 5 years, (b) what has changed in the external environment, (c) what are the set of challenges that different actors need to focus on in the next 5 years, and (d) how to lock in the commitment to nutrition for the medium term.

The series will retain the focus on undernutrition, but will give more attention to obesity and healthy diets. It will also focus more on the indirect or potentially nutrition sensitive policies and programmes in areas such as food and agriculture, social protection, women’s empowerment, water and sanitation, and early childhood development/education. The series will have more of a political economy focus, with paper 4 (the one I am working on) focusing on what an enabling environment for nutrition looks like and how it can be created and sustained.

The timeline is extremely challenging—we want to publish the papers by the May 2013 G8 in London. The series will have a website where ideas and materials can be posted by the wider community for the 20 or so authors to take into consideration as they write their papers. When we get the website address I will be sure to share.