Food Systems Transformation for Child Health and Well-Being: The Essential Role of Dairy

Abstract

Malnutrition, in all its forms, during the critical stages of child growth and development can have lifelong impacts on health and well-being. While most forms of malnutrition can be prevented with simple dietary interventions, both undernutrition and overnutrition remain persistent and burdensome challenges for large portions of the global population, especially for young children who are dependent on others for nourishment. In addition to dietary factors, children’s health also faces the growing challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, pollution, and infectious disease. Food production and consumption practices both sit at the nexus of these issues, and both must be significantly transformed if we are to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Food sources (i.e., animal-source foods vs. plant-source foods), food production practices, the effects of food processing, the impacts of a more globalized food system, and food loss and waste have all been receiving growing attention in health and sustainability research and policy discussions. Much of this work points to recommendations to reduce resource-intensive animal-source foods, heavily processed foods, and foods associated with excessive waste and pollution, while simultaneously increasing plant-source options. However, some of these recommendations require a little more nuance when considered in the context of issues such as global child health. All types of foods can play significant roles in providing essential nutrition for children across the globe, and for improving the well-being and livelihoods of their families and communities. Dairy foods provide a prime example of this need for nuance, as both dairy production practices and consumption patterns vary greatly throughout the world, as do their impacts on child health and food system sustainability. The objective of this narrative review is to highlight the role of dairy in supporting child health in the context of food system sustainability. When considering child health within this context it is recommended to take a holistic approach that considers all four domains of sustainability (health, economics, society, and the environment) to better weigh trade-offs, optimize outcomes, and avoid unintended consequences. To ensure that children have access to nutritious and safe foods within sustainable food systems, special consideration of their needs must be included within the broader food systems transformation narrative.

Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia in School Going Children at District Bannu Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

“…Early-life iron deficiency fragility also has a significant impact on outcomes, preventing both physical and mental development as well as lowering physical well-being, productivity, and employee performance (12) . The WHO requirements for Hb esteem in accordance with age are used to define iron deficiency anaemia: Hb 11.5 g/dL in 6e-11 years old children, Hb 12 g/dL in 12e-15 years old children, or 15e-18 years old children with no pregnant females, and Hb 13 g/dL in 15e-18 years old men (13) .…”

Net benefit of smaller human populations to environmental integrity and individual health and wellbeing

“…Based on United Nations data from 2005 to 2007, approximately 800 million people globally are undernourished, and food requirements will need to increase by 40% by 2030 and 70% by 2050 to maintain this proportion of malnourishment ( 184 ). But food security is threatened by an increasing population straining vulnerable food-supply systems and by a changing climate damaging and limiting food production itself ( 185 , 186 ). The geographical distribution of the Earth’s undernourished population is mainly in Asia (381 million undernourished) and Africa (250 million undernourished) ( 8 ) where overpopulation exacerbates the problem ( 187 ) and is centered on large nuclear families.…”

Conmemorando los cincuenta años de Leche Purita: importancia de la leche en la erradicación de la desnutrición infantil en Chile

“…Además de su valor nutricional, la evidencia científica muestra que el consumo de lácteos en la infancia tiene múltiples beneficios para la salud, incluyendo la reducción del riesgo de sufrir infecciones y de desarrollar enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles en el futuro. También aporta prebióticos y es un vehículo adecuado para la fortificación masiva, siendo usado por diversos países desarrollados 17 . El consumo de lácteos en niños se relaciona con un mayor crecimiento lineal y una mayor estatura en la edad adulta, lo que se explica en parte por su capacidad para inducir la secreción de Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) y posiblemente también por su efecto positivo sobre la secreción de insulina [18][19][20] .…”