Nutrition Facts

Undernutrition is the underlying cause of at least 35% of the disease burden in children under 5 years (Black. 2008)

Malnutrition accounts for 11 % of the global burden of disease (Lancet, 2008)

178 million children under 5 are stunted; an estimated 55 million children are wasted (Lancet, 2008)

More than 3.5 million mothers and children under 5 die unnecessarily each year due to malnutrition

Children under five years with mild, moderate or severe malnutrition are 2.5, 4.6 or 8.4 times more likely to die (Hunt, 2004)

Iodine fortification of salt can increase intellectual capacity in 60 countries by 10 to 15 per cent

It is estimated that, without malnutrition, the GDP of developing countries could grow by 41% over 10 years

Malnutrition is estimated to cost at least 3.5% of GDP worldwide per year (Horton, 1999)

Iodine supplementation for women has benefits 9 to 16 times larger than its cost (World Bank)

A decrease of 1% in malnutrition rate achieves a 4% decrease in poverty (Harold Alderman, 2004)

The benefits of iron fortification are 176 times larger than its cost

Each year, 100,000 children are born with preventable birth defects

19 million children per year are born with impaired mental abilities because of vitamin and mineral deficiencies

50,000 mothers die every year during or after childbirth because of malnutrition

1 million children die per year before the age of 5 because of malnutrition