Key Facts
Micronutrient Malnutrition
- Micronutrient malnutrition, a serious public health problem in developing countries, results primarily from diets lacking essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron, vitamin A, and zinc, and from high rates of infectious diseases. (World Health Organization [WHO], 2007)
- Micronutrient malnutrition can exist even when poor people have enough to eat, but lack the resources to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, milk products, and other foods rich in vitamins and minerals. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2003)
- Diets poor in micronutrients cause illness, blindness, premature death, impaired mental development, and susceptibility to infectious diseases, particularly among children in developing countries. It also causes reduced productivity later in life. (United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]/The Micronutrient Initiative, 2004)
- Good nutrition is the cornerstone for survival, health, and development. Well-nourished children perform better in school, grow into healthier adults, and are able to give their own children a better start in life. (UNICEF, 2006)
- Due to micronutrient deficiencies, one million children die before the age of five and 100,000 infants are born with preventable physical defects each year. (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition [GAIN], 2007)
- Nutrition interventions made during pregnancy and early childhood (under two years of age) have the greatest impact in reducing vulnerability to disease and death due to poor nutrition. (UNICEF, 2006)