Girls in particular benefit
from good nutrition as their health status and eating habits have a major impact on pregnancy,
lactation and nourishment of their children.
While over 800 million people are estimated to lack access to food to meet their daily
basic needs for energy and protein, more than 3 billion people are deficient in essential
micronutrients such as iodine, vitamin A and iron (76). Many forms of malnutrition exceed the
worldwide incidence of most other diseases. For instance, more than half of the 12.2 million
deaths every year of children under the age of 5 in developing countries are associated with
malnutrition (16;74). Thus, efforts are needed to make healthy nutrition accessible for everyone,
everywhere and at all times.