• Micronutrient malnutrition
  What strategies can address micronutrient deficiencies and improve diet quality among the poorest and most vulnerable?
• Nutrition transition, obesity, and diet-related chronic diseases among the poor
  How does globalization affect the problem of obesity among poor people in developing countries? What food policy options that can promote healthier outcomes?

Many countries and sub-populations experience micronutrient malnutrition, associated with high rates of infectious disease and periodic or chronic lack of food. In this context, the research program seeks creative, cost-effective and sustainable approaches to improving diet quality and aims to develop simple indicators for assessment, monitoring, and advocacy. This research component thus addresses the following two questions:

• What strategies can address micronutrient deficiencies and improve diet quality among the poorest and most vulnerable, including women and their children?
• How can we measure progress?

One of the key areas of research is the quality of infant and child feeding. Current projects include assessing the effectiveness of micronutrient “Sprinkles” in reducing anemia among young children; the development and validation of indicators of nutrient density, nutrient adequacy, and energy intake for infants and young children in developing countries; and evaluating food-based approaches to improving vitamin A intakes through the introduction of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes

This research component is developing in the context of the World Health Organization’s Global Strategy on Diet Physical Activity and Health. Released in 2004, the Strategy appeals to countries to implement policies promoting healthier diets, alongside reducing malnutrition. To facilitate the development of such policies, the Strategy calls for more research on the production, availability, processing and consumption of foods, and the policies that affect them. The aim of this research component is therefore to address the following three questions:

• How and why are diets changing across different types of households and among different household members, including women, in countries at different stages of the nutrition transition?
  How is the changing food supply affecting diets in different types of households and the distribution of food within households? How does household income and food price affect what people eat? What eating patterns are associated with under- and over-nutrition and related health conditions?



• How is the globalizing food system driving diet changes – and what policies are needed to reorient these changes?
  How are policies on a) agricultural production, b) trade, c) food processing, and d) food retailing affecting the availability and price of food? Which of these food policies could be reoriented to encourage healthier diets?



• What are the “win-win” solutions for both agriculture and the promotion of healthy diets?
  How can policies and programs ensure that rural development and healthy diets go hand in hand? Specifically, how can farmers gain access to markets for high value food products in a way that also increases access to these foods by those at risk from poor quality diets and associated diet-related health problems?