What we are reading...

This study tracked children’s brain development from infancy to early school age using repeated MRI scans and measured literacy‑related skills like phonological processing and later reading. It found that individual patterns of early brain growth in regions important for language were linked directly to phonological skills and indirectly to decoding and word‑reading ability. This suggests that the neural foundations for reading begin developing before birth and continue refining through early childhood, highlighting the importance of early brain trajectories for later literacy acquisition.

This study audited Road‑to‑Health Booklets from early childhood centres in Nelson Mandela Bay, finding well‑documented birth weight and early immunisations but significant gaps in growth measurements, vitamin A supplementation, and deworming records. Inconsistent booklet completion may hinder early detection of health issues. Strengthening training and caregiver engagement could improve preventive child healthcare.

This article describes a quasi‑experimental study protocol to evaluate Pakistan’s Benazir Nashonuma Programme (BNP), a nutritional and support intervention for pregnant women, mothers and young children. Using surveys in 18 districts and a difference‑in‑differences design, it aims to assess the programme’s effects on child stunting and maternal/child health outcomes, guiding future policies to reduce undernutrition.

This is a research article examining how starting South Africa’s Child Support Grant (CSG) during pregnancy could improve maternal and neonatal health. It reviews pregnancy support programmes from 27 countries, identifying design features that enhance uptake, coverage, and health impact. The study argues that extending the CSG prenatally could reduce poverty‑related risks, support early nutrition, and strengthen maternal and child well‑being outcomes.

This research paper uses a standardised micro‑costing approach to estimate how much six WHO‑recommended anaemia prevention/treatment interventions (like iron supplements, food fortification, deworming and malaria prevention in pregnancy) cost per person per year across 193 countries. The study finds that fortification and deworming are generally lowest‑cost, while multiple micronutrient supplements have higher unit costs, and highlights main cost drivers to help inform cost‑effectiveness and priority‑setting efforts for reducing anaemia worldwide.

This research article reports a cross‑sectional survey of pregnant women attending antenatal services in Vhembe District, South Africa, to determine the prevalence of anaemia and its contributing factors. It uses maternity records and questionnaires to assess nutritional status, supplement use and food security, providing locally relevant evidence to inform targeted maternal health and nutrition interventions within antenatal care services

This is a visual summary shows anaemia affects nearly two billion people worldwide, especially women and young children, remains widespread despite some declines, and contributes tens of millions of years lived with disability, highlighting persistent age, sex, and regional disparities.

This article examines the high global burden of morbidity and mortality among small and vulnerable newborns (including preterm and low-birthweight infants) and highlights opportunities to improve survival and long-term outcomes. It synthesizes evidence on risk factors, interventions, and policy priorities to reduce preventable newborn deaths and disabilities.

This is a summary of a narrative review comparing acceptability of antenatal multiple micronutrient supplements with iron and folic acid supplementation. It finds MMS is generally well accepted, with similar or better adherence, fewer side effects, and positive perceptions among pregnant individuals, supporting its feasibility for wider implementation in maternal nutrition programmes globally.

This study examines iron status, anemia prevalence and how these relate to birth outcomes in pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic in urban Bloemfontein, South Africa. Despite routine iron supplementation, anemia and iron deficiency remain common and are linked to poorer birth outcomes, underscoring the need to strengthen maternal nutritional care and monitoring during pregnancy.

This articles shows a comparison of trials where pregnant women received multiple micronutrients versus standard iron‑folic acid supplements, and found that multiple micronutrients improved infant length, weight, and other growth measures up to about 6 months of age and reduced risks like stunting and underweight at early ages.

This study synthesises lessons from implementation research on introducing antenatal multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) in four low‑income countries. It identifies context‑specific successes and challenges in switching from iron‑folic acid to MMS for pregnant women, highlighting the importance of policy support, community engagement, supply chains, monitoring and collaboration. These insights aim to inform effective scaling of MMS programmes globally.

This paper advocates for widespread adoption of antenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) across Africa. It synthesises outcomes from the 2nd Africa Maternal Nutrition and MMS Technical Meeting, emphasising MMS’s health benefits (e.g., reduced low birthweight and stillbirth), the need for stronger policy, financing, supply chains, implementation science and regional collaboration to integrate MMS into routine antenatal care and accelerate maternal‑newborn health improvements.

This article describes a mixed-methods study in Cambodia that tested three behavioral interventions family support, tracking calendar, and educational videos to improve pregnant women’s adherence to daily multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) and promote healthy practices. Family involvement was most valued; combined strategies are recommended for future programs.

This study in Cambodia compared how well pregnant women adhered to and accepted standard iron‑folic acid supplements versus multiple micronutrient supplements. Using a cluster‑randomized noninferiority trial, it evaluated whether the broader micronutrient regimen was at least as acceptable and adhered to as the traditional iron and folic acid, informing efforts to improve maternal nutrition interventions.

This review summarises proven antenatal and intrapartum interventions (like multiple micronutrient supplementation, balanced protein energy supplements, low‑dose aspirin, malaria prevention, and treatment of infections) shown to reduce preterm, small‑for‑gestational‑age and low‑birthweight births. It estimates that scaling up these interventions in low‑ and middle‑income countries could prevent millions of vulnerable births, stillbirths and neonatal deaths, helping achieve global mortality and low‑birthweight reduction targets.

This is a study investigating how maternal and child anemia affects early brain development in South African children. Using brain imaging, the researchers found associations between anemia during pregnancy or early childhood and alterations in brain structure, suggesting potential long-term cognitive and neurodevelopmental impacts of early-life iron deficiency.

This commentary discusses research priorities for integrating multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) into routine antenatal care. It highlights the need for well-designed studies to compare MMS with standard iron–folic acid supplementation, focusing on critical maternal and birth outcomes, implementation challenges, and equity to inform future policy and guidelines.

This study explored factors influencing micronutrient supplementation (MMS) adherence among non‑pregnant women of reproductive age in Johannesburg. Embedded in a preconception MMS trial, researchers interviewed women and community health workers to identify facilitators (family support, health worker interaction, easy access) and barriers (lack of support, stigma, and perceived lack of benefit) affecting MMS use. It highlights the need for tailored counselling, community support, and trained providers to improve adherence.

This is a qualitative study assessing a codesigned package of strategies to introduce multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) for pregnant women in Bamako, Mali. It found that both women and health providers found the intervention acceptable, with counselling materials and visual aids encouraging uptake, and family members influencing women’s MMS decisions.

This is a research article reporting that children aged 6–7 years whose mothers were anaemic during pregnancy had persistently smaller volumes in key brain regions especially the corpus callosum and caudate nucleus compared with those whose mothers were not anaemic. Findings suggest lasting effects of antenatal maternal anaemia on child brain development and support the need for effective maternal anaemia prevention and intervention strategies.

This journal article is a landmark analysis showing that most countries are not on course to halve anaemia by 2030. It highlights major data, evidence, implementation and policy gaps, calls for improved surveillance and multisector programmes, and proposes a new evidence-based method for setting realistic, country-specific reduction targets (likely 12–22% globally, not 50%). Achieving progress requires stronger governance, funding and coordinated action.

This paper presents the 2024 updated global expert consensus on a product specification for the UNIMMAP multiple micronutrient supplement (MMS) used in pregnancy. It provides unified, open‑access guidance for manufacturers and purchasers on the formulation, quality standards, regulatory considerations, stability testing, packaging, and labeling required to produce a high‑quality MMS product that meets international norms and supports maternal nutrition programmes.

This journal article reflects on India’s Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy, a nationwide initiative launched in 2018 to drastically reduce anaemia by targeting multiple age groups (children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women) with iron‑folic acid supplementation, deworming and behaviour change efforts. The piece discusses implementation experience, including successes in expanding coverage and remaining operational challenges like supply chain issues, adherence barriers and coordination across sectors that affect programme reach and impact.

This is a research article examining how well pregnant women in the Parepare district of Indonesia adhere to recommended multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) during pregnancy. It finds that while over half of women took many MMS tablets, many started late, and earlier initiation was linked to higher adherence, highlighting the importance of early antenatal care engagement.

This peer-reviewed systematic review and meta-analysis examines how cash transfer (CT) programmes affect child nutrition in low- and middle-income countries. It updates earlier evidence by pooling 129 study estimates, finding that cash transfers modestly improve height-for-age and other nutrition outcomes (e.g., reduced stunting and increased dietary diversity), especially when combined with behavioural support such as water, sanitation and hygiene communication.

This journal article systematically reviews randomised controlled trials of dietary interventions for pregnant women. It identifies which behavior change techniques (like goal‑setting and rewards) and intervention features (such as delivery by nutrition professionals or group sessions) are most effective at improving diet quality during pregnancy. The analysis shows that some techniques significantly improve mothers’ dietary intake, with implications for designing better antenatal nutritional programs.

This modelling study evaluates large-scale food fortification programmes, showing they significantly reduce micronutrient deficiencies at relatively low cost. It estimates substantial health benefits across populations and finds fortification highly cost-effective. The authors emphasize scaling up programmes, improving implementation, and targeting vulnerable groups to maximize nutritional and economic impacts globally.

This study quantifies the global burden of dietary iron deficiency using Global Burden of Disease 2021 data. It shows that about 16.7 % of people worldwide had dietary iron deficiency in 2021, with higher prevalence among women, children and low-SDI regions. Although rates fell since 1990, the condition remains widespread, highlighting the need for supplementation, food security and fortification efforts.

This study uses instrumental variable analysis with recent South African data to test whether the Child Support Grant (CSG) reduces childhood stunting. It finds that existing evidence on the grant’s positive effect on children’s height‑for‑age is robust to bias from unobserved factors. The authors emphasise continued evaluation of the CSG’s nutritional and long‑term development impacts.