Key Messages:

Despite significant decreases in child stunting over the past decades, a staggering 148 million children worldwide are still stunted. At the same time almost half of adults globally are obese or overweight.

• Wasting and low birthweight remain stubbornly high, with 45 million children suffering from wasting in 2022, and one in every seven children born with low birthweight in 2020.
• Anemia rates are increasing, affecting 3 in 10 women globally.
• Obesity rates are also increasing across the globe with 45% of adults being overweight or obese (2022). More than 70% of these individuals live in low and middle-income countries.
• Worsening climate conditions, such as droughts, raise the likelihood of both wasting and underweight by almost 50%, putting an additional burden on the most vulnerable people.

Investments to scale up high-impact nutrition interventions could avert 6.2 million deaths in children under age five and 980,000 stillbirths over the next decade and generate enormous economic benefit.

• Nutrition programs would also avert 27 million cases of child stunting and 144 million cases of maternal anemia.
• In addition, the scale-up of nutrition interventions is estimated to generate $2.4 trillion in economic benefits. For every dollar invested in addressing undernutrition, a return of $23 is expected. These economic benefits far outweigh the costs of inaction which run at around $41 trillion over 10 years.

In the lead-up to the 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit in France, the Investment Framework for Nutrition 2024 provides cost-effective, evidence-based investments and policy recommendations for countries.

• Scaling up nutrition interventions to address undernutrition globally will require an additional $13 billion annually over the next 10 years (2025-2034). This would mean $13 per pregnant woman and $17 per child per year under five years.
• Over three quarters ($98 billion) of the financing needs for addressing undernutrition are for low- and lower-middle-income countries reflecting the disproportional burden of poor nutrition outcomes in these regions.
  • $43 billion (34%) in South Asia
  • $34 billion (26%) in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • $19 billion (15%) in East Asia and the Pacific
  • $16 billion (12%) in Middle East and North Africa
• Financing needs for obesity prevention are significantly lower at about $3.5 per capita annually and would bring large positive impacts on labor market productivity.
• It will be key to explore new and innovative sources of financing. For example, by integrating nutrition within primary health interventions and adaptive safety net programs, by repurposing agrifood subsidies for healthy diets and by leveraging climate funds.
• In addition, non-traditional and innovative sources such as Sovereign Wealth Funds and the private sector offer new opportunity.

Countries can increase fiscal space for nutrition interventions through innovative financing opportunities such as taxes on unhealthy foods, repurposing agrifood subsidies and social bonds.

• Investments should be complemented by policies to change health and dietary behaviors. For example, through baby friendly hospitals and the promotion of breastfeeding as well as taxes and marketing regulations on unhealthy foods such as sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).
• Taxes need to be designed keeping in mind production incentives, consumer subsidies, and price controls throughout food-supply chains. This includes package labeling, marketing regulations, and mass-media and digital communication campaigns.
• Repurposing of public support for agrifood, such as producer subsidies and trade policies (amounting to up to $850b/year) is key to food systems transformation towards healthier and more sustainable diets.
• Social bonds can be used to finance businesses and projects for specific nutrition impact and lenders receive principal and interest at maturity.