Over the past two decades, the nutrition and survival of children (and to a lesser extent, adolescents) have improved substantially. Large disparities between and within countries persist, despite improvements associated with effective delivery of biomedical, behavioral, and environmental interventions. We analyzed how strongly the health, nutrition and cognitive development of children and adolescents are related to early-life poverty, using data from 95 national surveys low- and middle-income countries. We also show how early-life poverty can have a lasting effect on human capital and health throughout life, using data from six large birth cohorts. At a time when COVID-19 continues to undermine the economic, health and educational gains made in the recent past, we emphasize the importance of implementing multisectoral anti-poverty programs and policies to complement specific nutrition and health interventions carried out at the level individual.

The complete paper is published in the LANCET