III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 260 

Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to accelerating global progress against maternal and child malnutrition and 

supporting the commitment of the United States Agency for International 

Development to global nutrition through the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition 

Strategy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2019 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. COONS, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. 

YOUNG, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CASEY, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. 

REED, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MORAN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. 

RUBIO, Mr. BROWN, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

KING, Mr. JONES, Mr. MERKLEY, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to accelerating global progress against maternal 

and child malnutrition and supporting the commitment 

of the United States Agency for International Development to global nutrition through the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy. 

Whereas, of all children under 5 years of age worldwide— 

(1) 149,000,000, or 21.9 percent, are stunted or 

chronically undernourished; 


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(2) an estimated 7.3 percent, or nearly 49,000,000, 

experience life-threatening acute malnutrition (also 

known as ‘‘wasting’’); and 

(3) more than 40,000,000 are overweight; 

Whereas, in countries highly affected by undernutrition, 

stunting affects 1 in every 3 children; 

Whereas malnutrition directly or indirectly causes 45 percent 

of all deaths of children under 5 years of age, a total of 

2,600,000 deaths annually; 

Whereas children who experience malnutrition— 

(1) may experience impaired brain development, 

lower IQ, and weakened immune systems; and 

(2) are at a greater risk of contracting serious diseases; 

Whereas undernourished adolescent girls have impaired cognitive ability and productivity, and the future children of 

those girls are at increased risk for low birth weight and 

death; 

Whereas iron deficiency anemia, associated with undernutrition, contributes to 1 in 5 maternal deaths, or 20 percent 

of maternal mortality; 

Whereas poor maternal nutrition contributes to poor fetal development and low birth weight, and an estimated 60 to 

80 percent of neonatal deaths occur in low-birth-weight 

babies; 

Whereas a large body of scientific evidence supports the benefits of improved breastfeeding practices on the short-term 

and long-term health and development of children and 

their mothers; 

Whereas a growing body of evidence indicates that reducing 

maternal and child malnutrition, especially in the critical 


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1,000-day period between the beginning of pregnancy and 

the second birthday of the child, is imperative to— 

(1) ending preventable child and maternal deaths; 

(2) improving cognitive and physical development; 

and 

(3) strengthening the immune systems of children to 

bolster resistance to disease; 

Whereas leading economists and Nobel Laureates have identified improving child nutrition as the most cost-effective 

way to improve global health outcomes and enhance development; 

Whereas the approach of the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy of the United States Agency for International Development addresses the direct and underlying causes of 

malnutrition; 

Whereas the focus of the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy 

on linking humanitarian assistance with development programming helps build resilience to shocks in vulnerable 

communities; 

Whereas malnutrition is a universal issue that no country can 

afford to overlook; 

Whereas countries with populations that experience high burdens of malnutrition, including stunting, wasting, anemia, and micronutrient deficiency, will struggle to achieve 

sustainable and equitable economic growth; 

Whereas the United States plays a leading role supporting 

the goals of Scaling Up Nutrition, a global movement of 

60 countries to prioritize nutrition through effective policy and dedicated national resources, particularly during 

the 1,000-day window of opportunity between the beginVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Jun 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR260.IS SR260

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ning of pregnancy and the second birthday of the child; 

and 

Whereas, although the world has reduced undernutrition 

since 1990, global progress has been too slow— 

(1) to ensure that each child can attain a full and 

prosperous future regardless of where that child was 

born; and 

(2) for the global community to reach the global nutrition targets set for 2025: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes that— 

3 (A) food security and good nutrition in 

4 early childhood saves lives and lays the founda5 tion for healthy physical and cognitive growth 

6 and development; 

7 (B) the potential benefits of good nutrition 

8 in early childhood are life-long and influence 

9 the entire future of the child, with entire com10 munities and nations ultimately prospering; 

11 (C) the right nutrition— 

12 (i) helps children learn; 

13 (ii) helps protect children from illness; 

14 (iii) increases the productivity and 

15 earning potential of children later in life; 

16 and 


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1 (iv) supports the well-being and health 

2 of the future offspring of those children 

3 who receive that nutrition; 

4 (D) women who are well-nourished and do 

5 not suffer from anemia are less likely to die in 

6 childbirth or give birth to children who are mal7 nourished, breaking the intergenerational cycle 

8 of malnutrition; 

9 (E) good nutrition is an economic issue 

10 that is central to reducing poverty and putting 

11 countries on a path to economic development; 

12 (F) adults who were well-nourished as chil13 dren earn up to 46 percent more than adults 

14 who were malnourished as children; 

15 (G) countries with a very high burden of 

16 early childhood malnutrition have lower eco17 nomic growth rates due to lost income and pro18 ductivity; and 

19 (H) the cost of childhood malnutrition to 

20 countries is substantial, with— 

21 (i) estimated losses in Gross Domestic 

22 Product of 3 to 16 percent; and 

23 (ii) potential impacts to the global 

24 economy as high as $3,500,000,000,000 

25 per year; 


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1 (2) applauds the leadership of the United 

2 States in helping developing countries meet the nu3 tritional needs of women and children; 

4 (3) supports continued efforts by the United 

5 States to help developing countries meet the nutri6 tional needs of women and children; 

7 (4) commends the United States Agency for 

8 International Development (referred to in this reso9 lution as ‘‘USAID’’) for recognizing that nutrition 

10 interventions are among the highest-impact evidence11 based interventions that— 

12 (A) are lifesaving; and 

13 (B) support the goal of ending preventable 

14 child and maternal deaths; 

15 (5) recognizes the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition 

16 Strategy, the U.S. Government Global Nutrition Co17 ordination Plan, and the Global Food Security 

18 Strategy as platforms through which to reach, by 

19 2025, the global nutrition targets agreed to at the 

20 World Health Assembly in 2012; 

21 (6) recognizes the vision and goals of the Scal22 ing Up Nutrition movement, a global partnership 

23 supporting country-led efforts to improve maternal 

24 and child nutrition through the involvement of— 

25 (A) governments; 


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1 (B) civil society; 

2 (C) the United Nations; 

3 (D) donors; 

4 (E) businesses; and 

5 (F) researchers; 

6 (7) recognizes that progress against global mal7 nutrition must be accelerated using innovative, 

8 scaled up approaches to improve the systems that 

9 affect the health and nutritional status of women 

10 and children; and 

11 (8) calls for transformative efforts across sec12 tors at USAID to accelerate progress to end mater13 nal and child malnutrition, including through— 

14 (A) country development cooperation strat15 egies that align with national nutrition plans; 

16 and 

17 (B) improved and clear methods to track 

18 nutrition funding and outcomes across all global 

19 nutrition programs of the United States Gov20 ernment, especially those relating to— 

21 (i) global health; 

22 (ii) food security; 

23 (iii) agriculture; 

24 (iv) basic education; 

25 (v) food assistance; and 


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1 (vi) water, sanitation, and hygiene 

2 (also known as ‘‘WASH’’). 

Æ 


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