WHO and UNICEF jointly developed this global strategy to focus world attention on the impact that feeding practices have on the nutritional status, growth and development, health, and thus the very survival of infants and young children. The strategy is the result of a comprehensive two-year participatory process. It is based on the evidence of nutrition's significance in the early months and years of life, and of the crucial role that appropriate feeding practices play in achieving optimal health outcomes. The strategy is intended as a guide for action; it identifies interventions with a proven positive impact; it emphasizes providing mothers and families the support they need to carry out their crucial roles, and it explicitly defines the obligations and responsibilities in this regards of governments, international organizations, and other concerned parties.

The Model Chapter on Infant and Young Child Feeding is intended for use in basic training of health professionals. It describes essential knowledge and basic skills that every health professional who works with mothers and young children should master. The Model Chapter can be used by teachers and students as a complement to textbooks or as a concise reference manual.

This evidence-based, practical guide provides an introduction to the theory behind child nutrition with practical advice on how to put that theory into practice, including case studies, key points, and activities to help readers learn. Divided into three sections, the chapters cover prenatal nutrition and nutrition throughout childhood from preterm babies to adolescents up to the age of 18. Section 1: Introduction to the growth, nutrients, and food groups. Section 2: Providing a balanced eating pattern for each age group, chapters include expected growth patterns, development affecting eating and drinking skills, as well as common problems such as reflux in babies, fussy eaters in the toddler years, and eating disorders and pregnancy in the teenage years. Section 3: Common problems/disorders that can occur at any stage throughout childhood such as obesity, diabetes, and food intolerances. Chapters will also cover nutritional support in the community, reflecting the increasing numbers of chronically sick children who are now managed in the primary care setting. This book is essential reading for nutrition and dietetics students, as well as student children's nurses and health and social care students. It will also be a useful reference for those responsible for the nutritional health of children in primary care and community settings (including nurses, midwives, health visitors, GPs, social workers, nursery nurses, early years workers, and school nurses).