The unfinished child survival revolution: the role of nutrition

Figures & data

Fig. 1. A 9-month-old child admitted to Matlab Hospital, Bangladesh, with undernutrition, dehydrated by diarrhoea and suffering from severe bronchopneumonia. Undernutrition substantially contributes to increased mortality risks in children under 5 globally, and is an underlying cause of death in more than 50% of annual child deaths. Breast-feeding, appropriate complementary feeding, zinc supplementation and oral rehydration therapy all play important roles in preventing deaths caused by diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Table 1. Efficacious nutrition-related interventions in children under 5 years of age: current estimated coverage of these interventions and potential impact on global child deaths

Intervention	Current estimated coverage (%)	Estimated proportion of all under-five deaths prevented (%)
Exclusive breast-feeding up to 6 months	39	13
Breast-feeding 6–11 months	90
Complementary feeding	^a	6^a
Zinc supplementation (preventive)	0	5
Zinc treatment	0	4
Vitamin A supplementation (preventive)	55	2
Vitamin A treatment	55	<1
Oral rehydration therapy	20	15

Data from Jones et al. 8.

^a Estimated by using mean weight for age assuming a causal role of appropriate complementary feeding in preventing mortality mediated by underweight.

Jones G, Steketee RW, Black RE, Bhutta ZA, Morris SS, Bellagio Child Survival Study Group. How many child deaths can we prevent this year? Lancet 2003; 362: 65–71.

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