The U.S. is advancing a new strategy to address malnutrition and undernutrition in the developing world, U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton said during the CARE Annual Conference in Washington.
“For the first time, the United States is focusing our investments on that 1,000-day window,” Clinton said. “We’re identifying millions of young children who need nutritional support and we’re sticking with them for a three-year period to give them a foundation to lead healthy lives.”
The secretary of state pointed to the “science of nutrition” as premise of this new approach. She explained that nutrition has the biggest impact on a person’s life during the first 1,000 days of his or her life, which cover the start of pregnancy through the second year of life.
In addition to focusing on the 1,000-day window, the Obama administration will also scale up its investments in research and development in a bid to identify path-breaking technology and tools such as new supplements, bio-fortified crops, and new techniques to measure undernutrition, Clinton said.
Clinton added that the Obama administration is trying to “make nutrition the intersection” of two major new U.S. policy initiatives, the Global Health Initiative and Feed the Future.
The aim of the new approach is to reduce undernutrition by 30 percent in U.S. partner countries. It will comprise strategies specifically tailored to suit the specific needs and strengths of partner countries, Clinton explained.
