The United Nations report had this is to say about the following specific factors involved in improving nutrition. Nonetheless, the relationship is not completely straightforward. In countries where economic growth has resulted in increased household income and resource access for the poor, the nutritional pay-off has been large. In Indonesia, for example, economic growth from 1976 to 1986 was accompanied by a 50 per cent rise in the income of the poorest 40 per cent of the people. Im prove ments in nutrition have been relatively constant throughout the economic boom, although they could have been even better.
Poor households spend a large proportion of their income on food.
But while economic growth must be understood as a frequent contributor to nutrition improvement, it is not a necessary condition for it. A number of countries, such as the United Republic of Tanzania in the case described below, have achieved widespread nutrition improvement without significant overall economic growth. In Pakistan, for example, widespread discrimination against girls and women is behind high levels of illiteracy among women and girls, a very high fertility rate and lower female life expectancy. Some experts place the major blame for the very high child malnutrition and low birthweight throughout much of South Asia on such factors as women's poor access to education and low levels of employment, compared with other regions. Growth monitoring is a powerful tool to protect children's nutrition and to empower communities.