Given the urgency with which South Africa has to deal with the massive crisis of stunting, it’s important to focus strategically on interventions that can quickly lower stunting rates, such as those specifically targeting children’s nutrition status in early life. Starting in the first 1 000 days of a child’s life — the period from conception to two years of age — is a powerful lever, as it can break the compounding effects of poor growth in the womb, suboptimal breastfeeding and not having enough nutritious food from six months old, when babies typically start eating solids.
This learning brief looks at four practical interventions to fast-track action on stunting in the first 1 000 days and how they can work together to move the needle, based on evidence about the drivers of stunting and where efforts to curb chronic malnutrition are falling short. But every one of these interventions rests on the same foundation: families being able to reach nutritious food in the first place — the focus of the next brief.
To read this learning brief, download a PDF, or read it magazine-style on ISSUU.
