Much of the recent focus of international health has been on interventions related to child health and survival. In sparing the child, the health and nutrition needs of mothers have largely been ignored. Maternal nutrition interventions are often dismissed as too complicated or too expensive. However, women's undernutrition translates into lost economic productivity and lost lives. Appropriate interventions to address women's nutritional status will depend on the factors affecting their status in a particular household and community.
Different scenarios require different solutions.
A common scenario in Africa is one in which women are underfed and overworked. For many African women, undernutrition begins in early childhood and is a lifelong phenomenon. A number of reproductive risk factors also affect women's nutritional status. HIV-infected African women currently outnumber men six to five. In the past, conceptual and implementation constraints have minimized the impact of efforts to improve women's nutrition.