Preventing Maternal Malnutrition: Evidence, Challenges, and Opportunities

Date: Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Time: 9:30 to 11:00 AM
Location: PATH
10th Floor, Room 1061
455 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001, USA
(Please note new location)

Please join the Infant & Young Child Nutrition (IYCN) Project for a panel discussion focusing on maternal nutrition. Preventing maternal malnutrition can have a tremendous impact on a child’s chances of surviving and living a healthy life. Yet health and nutrition programs sometimes overlook the maternal dietary practices and behaviors that are critical to improving nutrition and shaping a child’s future during the first 1,000 days. Panelists will present findings from three IYCN studies revealing insights on dietary practices of mothers. The panel will discuss the links between maternal and child nutrition and explore barriers, challenges, and solutions for programs to prevent malnutrition of mothers.

Panel presentations:

How do maternal dietary practices influence child feeding and nutritional status?
Melissa Daniels, PhD, will present findings from IYCN’s descriptive analysis, using Demographic and Health Survey data, on maternal dietary practices in three countries. She will discuss the relationship between maternal diets and child diets and share recommendations for using maternal dietary intake as an indicator for determining the nutritional impact of household food security programs.

Understanding challenges and opportunities for improved maternal nutrition

Anita Shankar, PhD, will share a summary of qualitative research findings from nine IYCN country programs. She will share common sociocultural barriers to improved nutrition and discuss recommendations for improving maternal nutrition programming.

Barriers to anemia prevention among pregnant women in Madagascar

Jennifer Burns, MPH, will present results from a Barrier Analysis that revealed insights on maternal dietary practices, mothers’ beliefs about anemia, and factors preventing pregnant women from taking iron-folic acid supplements to prevent anemia.