ABSTRACT
The 2013 Lancet series on Maternal and Child Nutrition included a comprehensive review of interventions that affect the nutritional status of women and young children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Interventions are presented by the continuum of care from pregnancy through early childhood. Interventions to improve maternal nutritional status before and during pregnancy can have long-lasting effects on child growth and survival. Deficiencies in iodine, folic acid, iron, calcium, and other micronutrients are common in women of childbearing age in LMICs. Multiple micronutrients (MMNs) are broadly defined as supplements that contain three or more micronutrients. Micronutrient interventions currently implemented at scale include the provision of supplements containing iron and folic acid during routine antenatal care visits, staple food fortification with folic acid, and sometimes other micronutrients. In practice, balanced protein-energy supplementation is most commonly implemented among HIV-infected women or populations at high risk of food insecurity.
