In this 40th issue of the POSHAN Abstract Digest, we bring to you a collection of articles on the burden of malnutrition in India, its distribution patterns and determinants. You will find several articles focused on nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive solutions aimed at improving nutritional outcomes and determinants. This issue also features two articles on data for nutrition, one pertaining to data availability for nutrition financing in India and another describing the current situation of reliable biomarker data availability on micronutrient deficiencies at the global level. We have also included a small section on COVID-19 focused peer-reviewed articles.

This last issue of the Abstract Digest for 2016 brings to focus the importance of maternal factors including pre- and peri-conceptional nutrition, education and stature, as well as macro-level factors such as sustained economic growth and investments in health, education, and water for the overall well-being of a child.

We are delighted to present to you the first issue of Abstract Digest for this year. This issue has two important LANCET Commission Reports. The EAT–Lancet Commission is the first of a series of initiatives on nutrition, led by The Lancet in 2019, followed by the Commission on the Global Syndemic of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change. Along with these, we have articles from an issue of Public Health Nutrition that focuses on child and adolescent nutrition, and much more.

In this issue of Abstract Digest, we present to you a collection of articles on various outcomes, determinants and interventions related to maternal and child nutrition, from around the world and India, in particular. Additionally, we bring to you two salient reports, which have been released recently. UNICEF’s Children, Food and Nutrition: Growing well in a changing world highlights the state of the world’s children in 2019. India’s Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey provides significant information on malnutrition, anemia and micronutrient deficiencies among children and adolescents in India.

This issue of the Abstract Digest features the 2015 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, the 2015 Global Nutrition Report, the India Health Report, two special supplements focused on child feeding, and several other interesting articles on nutrition and health

This issue of Abstract Digest brings to you a set of interesting articles on stunting burden, drivers, and learnings from countries that have been successful in reducing stunting, including a case study on Chhattisgarh. In addition, there are studies on anthropometric data quality assessment, and a study describing the health system components required for the delivery of nutrition-specific interventions. This issue also includes studies on COVID-19 and its implications for child nutrition. In this edition, we have included a Call for Action issued by leaders of four UN agencies to protect children's right to nutrition in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In India, a diverse group of nutrition stakeholders have pledged their renewed Commitment to Action for supporting efforts by the government and all of society.

As India continues its dual battle – one against coronavirus pandemic and the second against malnutrition, this issue of Abstract Digest brings to you a collection of articles that are primarily India-focused and a few of them discuss measurement of outcomes and implications. Given below is the list of peer-reviewed articles in this issue on the outcomes, determinants and interventions pertaining to maternal and child nutrition. Please click on the title if you wish to go straight to the article or scroll down to explore the abstract in the pages that follow.