Over the past decades, there has been significant progress for girls and women. Since 2015, 50 million more girls have gone to school worldwide, millions of women have entered the workforce, the number of women in leadership roles has increased, the number of child marriages has fallen globally, and the number of maternal deaths has decreased.
Nutrition plays a critical role in this progress. Girls who are well-nourished perform better in school, well-nourished mothers experience healthier pregnancies and are less likely to have complications during childbirth, and well-nourished women have higher incomes. This increase in income gives women more control over decisions that affect their diets and the nutrition of their children. Moreover, improved nutrition, especially for women and girls, is critical to achieving gender equality and the UN Global Goalsgeneral.
Despite this progress, more than 1 billion adolescent girls and women worldwide still suffer from malnutrition, nutritional deficiencies or anemia. Moreover, acute malnutrition rates among pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls have increased by 25% since 2020 in 12 countries hardest hit by the global food and nutrition crisis. In South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, 68% of adolescent girls and women are underweight and 60% of adolescent girls and women are anemic.
The situation will be exacerbated by the global food crisis, rising food and fuel prices, conflict, poverty and extreme weather events caused by climate change. This will make it even harder for the most vulnerable adolescent girls and women to access the nutritious diets, resources and care they need.
Currently, no country is on track to meet the global 2030 targets of halving anemia among adolescent girls and women and reducing low birth weight in newborns by 30%. The global response through policies, programmes and actions falls short of ensuring the right to nutrition for all adolescent girls and women.
Here are six ways we can improve the nutrition of women and girls.
1. Invest in women’s economic empowerment.
When girls and women in adolescence are empowered to make important decisions that affect their lives and have adequate access to economic resources, they are better able to receive the nutritious food and care they need.
Women’s participation in the workforce leads to improved household diversity and nutrition — a benefit that applies not only to women, but to everyone living in the same household. This is because women become more financially independent, more knowledgeable about diverse diets, and more empowered in household decision-making, allowing them to make healthier and more diverse food choices for themselves and their families.
2. Expand the coverage of multiple micronutrient supplements for pregnant women.
A healthy pregnancy requires a balanced diet that provides enough energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals to meet the increased needs of both the mother and the developing baby. Yet many pregnant women do not consume enough fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy products to meet these requirements. This is often due to a lack of access to these sources of valuable nutrition, whether due to location, food price increases, the impact of the climate crisis on local food supplies, or even unrest that limits food access.
This can lead to deficiencies in essential nutrients, a problem that is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, South-Central Asia and Southeast Asia. Maternal malnutrition in these regions is widespread and is known to contribute significantly to poor outcomes during childbirth.
Multiple micronutrient supplements containing 15 essential micronutrients,have been validated as a safe and effective method of improving nutritional intake during pregnancy. These medications have been shown to be more effective than iron and folic acid supplements in addressing the problem of low birth weight, especially in pregnant women who are anemic or underweight. Another key benefit of these supplements is that they can also help reduce maternal mortality and stillbirths.
Despite their benefits, only 43% of pregnant women take iron and folic acid supplements, and only 29 low- and middle-income countries provide multiple micronutrient supplements on a large scale.
3. Expand social protection programmes to cover women’s food security.
Social protection programs can help address vulnerability, gender inequality, and poverty by providing resources such as cash, food, or vouchers to low-income households. Targeted social protection for women can improve food and nutrition security by increasing women’s autonomy and decision-making power. Women who benefit from these programs tend to make better nutrition-related decisions for themselves and their children.
4. Increase investments for women in the agricultural sector.
Did you know that women and girls make up approximately 43% of the agricultural workforce in the Global South? Yet they face barriers that male farmers don’t, such as limited access to land, loans, and machinery. Supporting the essential needs of women in agriculture can improve their well-being, reduce hunger, increase incomes, and build resilience.
5. Increase funding for research into the nutrition of women and girls.
As with most development-related issues, research and data are essential to addressing nutritional problems among adolescent girls and women. Regular data collection and analysis can inform communities and governments about the extent and impact of female malnutrition, increasing understanding of the severity of the problem and subsequently driving effective action.
UNICEF emphasizes this point: “Without data and evidence, we cannot reveal the true scale of the nutrition problem and create demand for faster and more effective action.”
6. Invest in nutrition education for women and girls.
Education is key: Providing nutrition education to adolescent girls builds their nutrition knowledge and can help them make better food choices. In addition, nutrition education can lead to better academic performance.
Schools play an important role in improving girls’ nutrition by providing nutrition education, implementing nutrition programs that nourish students, and promoting health initiatives such as deworming and hand washing.
Access to nutrition is a fundamental right that should not be determined by where you live or your gender. Join Global Citizen to advocate for increased funding and call on world leaders to remove systemic barriers to nutrition for women and girls. Together, we can ensure that women and girls have access to good nutrition, leading to a better future for all.