Effective, low-cost approaches to the control of vitamin A deficiency are available and are being applied in many countries. Breastfeeding initiation is universal in Sub-Saharan Africa, although exclusive breastfeeding is not widely practiced. Trends in median duration of breastfeeding showed positive changes between 1975 and 1996 despite demographic trends that might have had a negative influence. The role of international and national efforts through, for example, the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative are particularly impressive in this regard. Nutrition and Human Development 18.
Recent research reaffirms the crucial contribution of good nutrition to human development.
Good foetal and infant nutrition strongly promotes cognitive achievement and early school enrollment and slows down or prevents the onset of chronic diseases in later life. Community-based nutrition initiatives may also lead to a more general empowerment of communities. Human Rights 20. The emergence of human development as a guiding principle for overall development reflects a growing dissatisfaction with an exclusive reliance on economic growth as a means to improved human welfare. The challenge now is to operationalize the principles of human rights in nutrition programming.