COVID-19 Nutrition Digest (August 2020)

Commitment to support and strengthen actions for safeguarding nutrition security (Image courtesy: POSHAN team)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a broad range of stakeholders working on nutrition in India have come together to ensure that a strong focus is maintained on nutrition during these unprecedented times. This diverse group of nutrition stakeholders have pledged their renewed Commitment to Action for supporting efforts by the government and all of society. This collective endeavor was featured by Outlook Poshan, inviting anyone who is willing to express their commitment to add their name to this initiative. In this fourth issue of COVID-19 Nutrition Digest, we present a collection of recently published peer-reviewed resources and other material, analyzing the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the outcomes, determinants and coverage of interventions related to maternal and child nutrition. We hope that you will find this information useful, and also join the efforts for supporting nutrition in India during COVID-19.

Peer-reviewed resources

Outcomes

Comment

Impacts of COVID-19 on childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related mortality

Headey, D., R. Heidkamp, S. Osendarp, M. Ruel, N. Scott, R. Black, M. Shekar, H. Bouis, A. Flory, L. Haddad, and N. Walker on behalf of the Standing Together for Nutrition consortium. 2020. “Impacts of COVID-19 on childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related mortality”. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31647-0

The Standing Together for Nutrition consortium, a multidisciplinary consortium of nutrition, economics, food, and health systems researchers, is working to estimate the scale and reach of nutrition challenges related to COVID-19. Read more.

Equal risk, unequal burden? Gender differentials in COVID-19 mortality in India

Joe, W., A. Kumar, S. Rajpal, U.S. Mishra, and S.V. Subramanian. 2020. “Equal risk, unequal burden? Gender differentials in COVID-19 mortality in India”. Journal of Global Health Science 2(1): e17. https://doi.org/10.35500/jghs.2020.2.e17

This article presents a disaggregated view of age-sex specific COVID-19 infection and mortality risk in India. Read more.

Determinants

Opinion Piece

Pandemics and food systems - towards a proactive food safety approach to disease prevention & management

Aiyar, A., and P. Pingali. 2020. “Pandemics and food systems - towards a proactive food safety approach to disease prevention & management”. Food Security. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01074-3

This article looks at the recent large-scale pandemics such as the covid19, H1N1, Swine flu, Ebola and the Nipah virus, which impacted human health and livelihoods, and advocates for a glocal-long term approach to food safety for preventing future pandemics and food systems disruptions. Read more.

Interventions

Comment

Child malnutrition and COVID-19: the time to act is now

H.H. Fore, Q. Dongyu, D.M. Beasley, and T.A. Ghebreyesus. 2020. “Child malnutrition and COVID-19: the time to act is now”. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31648-2

The leaders of four UN agencies have issued a call for action to protect children's right to nutrition in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This requires a swift response and investments from governments, donors, the private sector, and the UN. Read more.

Other resources

Outcomes