Malnutrition in Afghanistan: Scale, Scope, Causes, and Potential Response

Emily Levitt, Kees Kostermans, Luc Laviolette and Nkosinathi Mbuya

No 2518 in World Bank Publications - Books from The World Bank Group

Abstract: This book has the potential to contribute to a reversing of this trend, whereby activities in not only the health sector but also in other sectors relevant to nutrition will gain increased support and prominence in national development planning. South Asia has by far the largest number of malnourished women and children, and no other region of the world has higher rates of malnutrition. Malnutrition in childhood is the biggest contributor to child mortality; a third of child deaths have malnutrition as an underlying cause. For the surviving children, malnutrition has lifelong implications because it severely reduces a child's ability to learn and to grow to his or her full potential. Malnutrition thus leads to less productive adults and weaker national economic performance. Therefore, the impact of malnutrition on a society's productivity and well being and a nation's long-term development is hard to underestimate. For the South Asia region of the World Bank, malnutrition is a key development priority, and in the coming years, the Bank intends to enhance dramatically its response to this challenge. As a first step, a series of country assessments such as this one are being carried out. These assessments will be used to reinforce the dialogue with governments and other development partners to scale up an evidence-based response against malnutrition. To succeed, we will need to address the problem comprehensively, which will require engaging several sectors. This assessment of malnutrition in Afghanistan lays out the scale, scope, and causes of the problem. The assessment also indicates key elements of a potential response.

Keywords: Early Child and Children's Health Health; Nutrition and Population-Population Policies Health Monitoring and Evaluation Health; Nutrition and Population-Nutrition Macroeconomics and Economic Growth-Regional Economic Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8213-8441-1
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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