Insight: Early Child Growth: How do Nutrition and Infection Interact?

The main points of this technical brief are as follows:

1. Infections are very common in the first 2 years of a child’s life.
2. Even when there are no obvious symptoms, physiological conditions associated with infections can impair growth.
3. There is little direct evidence that nutrition interventions are less effective when infection is common. Further research is needed.
4. Four intervention trials showed that the negative effects of diarrhea on growth can be reduced or eliminated by improved nutrition.
5. Interventions that combine improved nutrition with prevention and control of infections are likely to be most effective for enhancing child growth and development.