Safeguarding Children’s Access to Good Diets, Services, and Practices in East Asia and the Pacific
During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Overview of UNICEF’s Nutrition Response
Highlights
The unprecedented global social and economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has brought grave risks to young children’s nutritional status and survival. Declines in household income and changes in the availability, accessibility and affordability of nutritious foods are leading to rises in both overweight and undernutrition. The region was the first to face the pandemic and UNICEF supported governments to urgently adapt nutrition programming to respond, using social media to pass messages on healthy diets and infant and young child feeding, and adapting management of severe wasting. This report captures some of the country actions taken and innovations introduced, with insights for nutrition programmatic improvements that could be taken forward in the region to help maintain and strengthen nutrition services during the current or future pandemics.
