Ending malnutrition in all its forms requires scaling up proven nutrition interventions and much more: a 129-country analysis

Abstract

Background: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.2 calls for an end to all forms of malnutrition, with 2025 targets of a 40% reduction in stunting (relative to 2012), for wasting to occur in less than 5% of children, and for a 50% reduction in anaemia in women (15–49 years). We assessed the likelihood of countries reaching these targets by scaling up proven interventions and identified priority interventions, based on cost-effectiveness. Methods: For 129 countries, the Optima Nutrition model was used to compare 2019–2030 nutrition outcomes between a status quo (maintained intervention coverage) scenario and a scenario where outcome-specific interventions were scaled up to 95% coverage over 5..