Nutrition International

29/07/2026

Schools can be a powerful platform for reaching adolescent girls with essential nutrition services.

A newly published evaluation examines Nutrition International’s work with the Government of Pakistan to deliver weekly iron and folic acid supplementation to deliver weekly iron and folic acid supplementation (WIFAS) and nutrition education to school-going adolescent girls. The results were promising:

☑️ Over 30,000 adolescent girls reached

☑️ Over 5,000 anaemia cases estimated to be averted

☑️ 100% WIFAS coverage achieved among participating girls

☑️ 80% adherence to the recommended supplementation scheme

The evaluation also found that the program was feasible and highly acceptable to adolescent girls, families, teachers and government stakeholders — demonstrating its potential as a government-led model for scale-up.

These results show what can be achieved through strong government leadership, collaboration across sectors and nutrition services designed around the needs of adolescent girls.

Read the full study published in MDPI: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/14/2329

Background/Objectives: Pakistan has one of the highest burdens of adolescent anaemia in South Asia. A Weekly Iron-Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFAS) program for school-going adolescent girls aged 10–19 years was piloted in the Lodhran District, Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: A quantitative cross-secti...

29/07/2026

July 29 is World ORS Day, a day to recognize one of the simplest and most effective tools we have to save children's lives: oral rehydration salts (ORS), paired with zinc.

In Balochistan, Pakistan, this treatment is helping change what happens when a child gets sick. Diarrhea affects close to one in five children under five in the province and for families living far from a health facility, a treatable illness can quickly become life-threatening.

Meet Gul Bibi, a midwife in the village of Kili Garda Babar. After receiving training supported by Nutrition International, the Balochistan Rural Support Program, and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, she opened a family health outlet in her community. Since then, she has treated more than 1,600 children for diarrhea using zinc and low-osmolarity ORS, all while teaching mothers about nutrition, hygiene, and how to care for a sick child at home.

This work is part of the Zinc Alliance for Child Health, supported by the Government of Canada, which has helped expand access to proven diarrhea treatment across Africa and Asia.

Provincial health leaders have pointed to this model as a real turning point for some of Balochistan's hardest-to-reach areas, helping close longstanding gaps in access to care.

Across Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, this network of community health outlets has helped reach approximately 45,000 children, bringing lifesaving treatment closer to families who need it most.

Read the full story to see how care is reaching some of Pakistan's hardest to reach communities.

https://nutritionintl.org/news/all-stories/lifesaving-diarrhea-care-closer-to-home-balochistan-pakistan/

27/07/2026

Ever wonder why "processed food" gets talked about like it's all one thing? It's worth taking a moment to unpack that.

Fortification means adding essential nutrients like iron, folic acid, vitamin A and iodine to foods people already eat every day, such as wheat flour, salt and cooking oil. It doesn't change how these foods taste or what they cost. It exists for one reason: to help close a nutrition gap. Right now, more than two billion people around the world still don't get the micronutrients they need and fortification is one of the most effective, low-cost ways to help change that.

That's different from the ultra-processed foods getting so much attention in public debate lately, products designed mainly to be profitable and craveable rather than nourishing. Last year, we published our own Principles of Engagement with the ultra-processed food industry, laying out how we think about that difference and why we believe decisions about nutrition should stay free from commercial influence.

Understanding this distinction matters, because the solutions look completely different. Want to learn more about how fortification works and where it's making a difference? https://nutritionintl.org/our-work/how-we-help/fortification/

24/07/2026

In Malawi, Nutrition International's Senior Gender Equality Specialist, Sarah Pentlow, worked alongside WaterAid in Malawi, the Ministry of Gender, Malawi, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, SickKids, and local leaders as part of the IGNIT3 project. The goal was to ensure gender equality is integrated into programming from the outset.

The visit included training sessions with WaterAid staff and the District Nutrition Coordination Committee in Mangochi, where participants' knowledge scores rose significantly, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. This training is now cascading to Area Nutrition Coordination Committees and village level, supported by facilitator guides and posters that enable district trainers to lead sessions in Chichewa.

Community discussions during the visit reflected the everyday realities the program seeks to address, including differing social responses to fathers engaging in caregiving depending on context. These are the kinds of norms the cascade training is designed to shift over time.

The visit also engaged the next generation of health professionals through a gender and nutrition session for dietetics students at KUHeS, along with a visit to the Mercy James Centre for Paediatric Surgery, supported by SickKids.

This work reflects the contributions of WaterAid Malawi, the Ministry of Gender, KUHeS, SickKids, and community leaders throughout Malawi.

22/07/2026

Did you know Ethiopia has near universal access to iodized salt? As the country looks at adding folic acid to that same salt to help prevent birth defects and address widespread folate insufficiency, one important question comes up: could giving people fortified salt for free change how much salt they actually use?

A new study looked into exactly that. Using detailed food records from a randomized trial in Oromia, Ethiopia, researchers compared salt use among women who didn't know which type of salt they had received. The result: providing fortified salt at no cost did not lead to higher discretionary salt intake.

This is good news for fortification programs working to close nutrition gaps without introducing new health tradeoffs.

Read more here: https://nutritionintl.org/learning-resource/provision-salt-does-not-affect-discretionary-salt-intakes-adult-females-ethiopia/

20/07/2026

In Pakistan, nearly half of women of reproductive age are anaemic, and many are deficient in essential vitamins like vitamin D and vitamin A. These gaps affect not just women's health, but their babies too, contributing to low birthweight and stunting in children.

The good news: Pakistan is leading a major shift in maternal care, moving from standard iron and folic acid supplements to multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS), which contains 15 essential vitamins and minerals. Early results are encouraging. In one program area, nearly all women who received MMS started taking it and most kept taking it throughout their pregnancy.

Researchers estimate that if MMS reaches just one-third of pregnant women in Pakistan over the next ten years, it could help prevent more than 40,000 additional child deaths.

Dr Shabina Raza, Nutrition International's Country Director for Pakistan, writes about this pivotal moment for maternal nutrition in Pakistan and what it will take to reach every pregnant woman.

Read her full op-ed here: https://www.thenews.pk/print/1425198-mms-transition

17/07/2026

Access to antenatal care is just the first step. Keeping women supported and engaged throughout pregnancy? That's where real impact happens.

In Bauchi State, Nigeria, mama-to-mama groups did something remarkable: they connected community support with clinic care and helped more women take their multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) every day.

By centering women's experiences and leveraging trusted local networks, implementation research led by the governments of Nigeria and Bauchi State — in partnership with Nutrition International — helped inform how MMS can be scaled to better support women and families across the country.

▶️ Watch the video and learn more: https://nutritionintl.org/news/all-stories/watch-community-support-and-clinic-care-in-pregnancy-mms-bauchi-nigeria/

15/07/2026

Today is World Youth Skills Day, a United Nations observance marking how important skills are in helping young people build better futures.

In the Tabora region of Tanzania, the BRIGHT project is helping adolescents build a different kind of skill: the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions about their health, their bodies and their futures. Led by Nutrition International with the Government of Tanzania, TAWLA Tanzania Women Lawyers Association, EngenderHealth, and funded by Canada’s International Development – Global Affairs Canada, BRIGHT takes a youth-centered approach in a region where early marriage and limited access to health services often stand in the way of adolescents, especially girls, reaching their full potential.

So far, BRIGHT has reached 470,000 adolescent girls and boys, helped avoid an estimated 74,000 unintended pregnancies and supported 31,000 pregnant adolescent girls with iron and folic acid supplementation.

Skills for a better future come in many forms. For adolescents in Tabora, they start with the right to make informed choices about their own health. 🌱

Learn more about BRIGHT: https://nutritionintl.org/project/bright-building-rights-for-improved-girls-health-tanzania/

08/07/2026

What are micronutrients and why do they matter?

Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals our bodies need in small but critical amounts to function properly. Unlike carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, they don't provide energy on their own; but without them, the body simply cannot thrive.

Think of them as the essential ingredients working behind the scenes every single day.

✅ Vitamin A supports immune function and protects young children from life-threatening illnesses.

✅Iron is critical for brain development, energy and safe pregnancies.

✅Iodine ensures children's brains develop fully.

✅Folic acid helps prevent serious birth defects.

✅ Zinc is a proven, cost-effective treatment for childhood diarrhea — one of the leading causes of child mortality worldwide.

When people don't get enough of these nutrients, the effects can be devastating and long-lasting: stunted growth, impaired learning, weakened immunity and preventable deaths.

The good news? Micronutrient deficiencies are largely preventable. Through supplementation, food fortification and better access to nutritious food, we can change outcomes for millions of people.

Learn more about the micronutrients we work with and why they matter: https://nutritionintl.org/our-work/how-we-help/micronutrients/

06/07/2026

Last week, Nutrition International supported the Government of Tanzania in hosting a learning event to draw lessons from Ethiopia's Seqota Declaration as Tanzania embarks on developing its National Nutrition Long-Term Plan (NN-LTP).

The workshop brought together nutrition focal persons from government ministries, departments, and agencies, along with implementing partners, to reflect on Ethiopia's experience implementing the Seqota Declaration, a 15-year multisectoral initiative aimed at reducing child stunting, and to explore how these lessons can inform Tanzania's own 25-year nutrition journey towards 2050.

Dr. Germana Henry Leyna, Managing Director of the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre, emphasized the importance of aligning the long-term nutrition framework with Tanzania's Vision 2050, particularly Pillar II on Human Capital Development. She noted that nutrition is foundational to ensuring all Tanzanians can reach their full potential and contribute to the country's social and economic transformation.

Dr. Germana also highlighted the need for the NN-LTP to establish strong monitoring and early warning systems, enabling the country to detect, prepare for, and respond to emerging nutrition challenges before they escalate into public health crises.

Nutrition International is honoured to facilitate this South-South learning exchange, bringing together Tanzanian stakeholders and Dr. Sisay Sinamo Boltena, Senior Program Manager of Ethiopia's Seqota Declaration Federal Program Delivery Unit, whose insights and experience will help inform the design of Tanzania's long-term nutrition vision.