Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms and Abbreviations -- Glossary -- Overview -- Three Reasons for Intervening to Reduce Malnutrition -- What Causes Malnutrition and How Should Governments Intervene? -- Next Steps -- Notes -- 1 Why Invest in Nutrition? -- Nutrition and Economics -- Nutrition and the Millenium Development Goals -- Nutrition and Human Rights -- The Know-How for Improving Nutrition -- Notes -- 2 How Serious Is Malnutrition and Why Does It Happen? -- Undernutrition -- Low Birthweight -- Obesity and Diet-Related Noncommunicable Diseases -- Micronutrient Malnutrition -- What Causes Malnutrition, and Who Is Worst Af fected? -- Notes -- 3 Routes to Better Nutrition -- Long and Short Routes to Better Nutrition -- Community-Based Growth Promotion Programs -- Low-Birthweight Prevention Programs -- Micronutrient Programs -- Food and Social Protection Programs -- Malnutrition and HIV/AIDS Programs -- Programs to Tackle Overweight and Diet-Related Noncommunicable Diseases -- The Role of Policy -- Intentional and Unintentional Nutrition Policies -- Notes -- 4 Getting to Scale -- Managing Nutrition Programs -- Organizing Services -- Channeling Finance and Coordinating Financiers -- Strengthening Commitment and Capacity -- Notes -- 5 Accelerating Progress in Nutrition: Next Steps -- Uniting Development Partners around a Common Nutrition Agenda -- Three Key Operational Challenges to Scaling Up -- Where to Focus Actions against Malnutrition -- Supporting a Focused Action Research Agenda in Nutrition -- The Gaps between Identified Needs and Development Partners' Focus -- Next Steps -- Notes -- Annex 1 : Country Experience with Short Routes to Improving Nutrition -- Annex 2: Long Routes to Improving Nutrition -- Annex 3: Key Priorities for Action Research in Nutrition: A Proposal -- Technical Annexes -- References -- Index -- Tables.

1.1 The benefit-cost ratios for nutrition programs -- 1.2 Annual unit costs of nutrition programs -- 1.3 Cost of nutrition interventions () -- 1.4 Reduction of the fraction of children underweight in Tanzania under different income growth and nutrition intervention coverage scenarios (%) -- 1.5 Prevalence of underweight and anemia in Indian children by income quintiles -- 1.6 How investing in nutrition is critical to achieving the MDGs -- 1.7 The Copenhagen Consensus ranks the provision of micronutrients as a top investment -- 1.8 Coverage of nutrition interventions in some large-scale programs -- 3.1 Routes to better nutrition -- 3.2 The range of interventions for obesity programs -- 3.3 Examples of unintentional nutrition policies -- 5.1 Suggested priorities for action research in nutrition -- Figures -- 1.1 The vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition -- 1.2 The income-malnutrition relationship -- 1.3 Estimated reduction of underweight prevalence at different economic growth and income-nutrition elasticity scenarios -- 1.4 Progress toward the nonincome poverty target -- 1.5 Progress toward the nonincome poverty target (nutrition MDG) -- 2.1 Prevalence of and trends in malnutrition among children under age five, 1980-2005 -- 2.2 Projected trends in numbers of underweight children under age five, 1990-2015 -- 2.3 Prevalence and number of low-birthweight infants -- 2.4 Trends in obesity among children under age five -- 2.5 Maternal and child overweight -- 2.6 Maternal overweight versus maternal and child -- 2.7 Coexistence of energy deficiency and obesity in low- and middle-income countries -- 2.8 Prevalence of subclinical vitamin A deficiency in children age 0-72 months, by region, 1990-2000 -- 2.9 Prevalence of iron deficiency in preschool children, by region, 1990-2000.

2.10 Prevalence of underweight children by per capita dietary energy supply, by region, 1970-96 -- 2.11 Prevalence of overweight among children under age five, by age group -- 2.12Underweight prevalence and rates of decline in World Bank regions and countries -- 3.1 How malnutrition and HIV/AIDS interact -- 5.1 Principal development partners supporting nutrition -- 5.2 Typology and magnitude of malnutrition in World Bank regions and countries -- Boxes -- 1.1 Off track on the Millennium Development Goals -- 2.1 Undernutrition prevalence in South Asian countries is much higher than in Africa -- 2.2 The window of opportunity for addressing undernutrition -- 2.3 Three myths about nutrition -- 3.1 Why malnutrition persists in many food-secure households -- 3.2 Food security versus nutrition security? -- 3.3 Ensuring that new behavioral practices make sense for poor people -- 3.4 Food subsidies versus targeted social safety net programs -- 3.5 Evidence that conditional transfer programs can work -- 3.6 Summary findings of scientific review on nutrition and HIV/AIDS -- 3.7 The role of public policy -- 3.8 Impact of agricultural and food policies on nutrition and health -- 4.1 How Thailand managed its National Nutrition Program -- 4.2 Assessment, analysis, and action: The "Triple A" process -- 4.3 Institutionalizing nutrition in Bangladesh: From project to program -- 4.4 Five steps toward integrating nutrition in country PRSPs -- 4.5 Ten reasons for weak commitment to nutrition programs -- 4.6 PROFILES -- 5.1 Lessons for nutrition from HIV/AIDS -- 5.2 What to do when -- Maps -- 1.1 Global prevalence of underweight among children under age five -- 1.2 Global prevalence of stunting among children under age five -- 1.3 Global prevalence of vitamin A deficiency and supplementation coverage rates.

1.4 Global prevalence of iodine deficiency disorders and iodized salt coverage rates.