IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 189 
Recognizing the importance of sustained United States leadership to accel-
erating global progress against maternal and child malnutrition and 
supporting United States Agency for International Development’s com-
mitment to global nutrition through its multi-sectoral nutrition strategy. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 7, 2019 
Mr. MARSHALL (for himself and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the following res-
olution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in 
addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the importance of sustained United States lead-
ership to accelerating global progress against maternal 
and child malnutrition and supporting United States 
Agency for International Development’s commitment to 
global nutrition through its multi-sectoral nutrition strat-
egy. 
Whereas 151 million children under the age of 5 in the 
world—22 percent—are stunted, or chronically under-
nourished, and in countries highly affected by undernutri-
tion, stunting affects 1 in every 3 children; 
Whereas wasting, or acute malnutrition, continues to threat-
en the lives of an estimated 7.5 percent or nearly 51 mil-
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lion children under the age of 5 globally, and more than 
38 million children under the age of 5 are overweight; 
Whereas malnutrition directly or indirectly causes 45 percent 
of all deaths—2.6 million—of children under age 5 annu-
ally and puts those who survive at risk of impaired brain 
development, lower IQ, weakened immune systems, and 
greater risk of serious diseases; 
Whereas undernourished adolescent girls have impaired cog-
nitive ability and productivity and their future babies are 
at increased risk for low birth weight and death; 
Whereas iron deficiency anemia, associated with undernutri-
tion, contributes to 1 in 5 maternal deaths (or 20 percent 
of maternal mortality); 
Whereas poor maternal nutrition contributes to poor fetal de-
velopment 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 bene-
fits of improved breastfeeding practices on the short-term 
and long-term health and development of children and 
their mothers; 
Whereas a growing evidence base demonstrates that reducing 
maternal and child malnutrition, especially in the critical 
1,000 days between pregnancy and age 2, is imperative 
to ending preventable maternal and child deaths, improv-
ing cognitive and physical development, and strength-
ening children’s immune systems to bolster resistance to 
disease; 
Whereas leading economists and Nobel Laureates have identi-
fied improving child nutrition as the most cost-effective 
way to enhance global health and development; 
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Whereas the United States Agency for International Develop-
ment’s Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy’s approach ad-
dresses both direct and underlying causes of malnutri-
tion, and its focus on linking humanitarian assistance 
with development programming helps build resilience to 
shocks in vulnerable communities; 
Whereas malnutrition is a universal issue that no country in 
the world can afford to overlook, and countries with high 
burdens of malnutrition, including stunting, wasting, ane-
mia, and micronutrient deficiency, will struggle to achieve 
sustainable and equitable economic growth; 
Whereas the United States plays a lead role supporting the 
goals of Scaling Up Nutrition, a global movement of 60 
countries to prioritize nutrition, particularly during the 
1,000-day window of opportunity between a mother’s 
pregnancy and her child’s second birthday, through effec-
tive policy and dedicated national resources; and 
Whereas the world has reduced undernutrition since 1990, 
yet global progress has been too slow to ensure each child 
can attain a full and prosperous future regardless of 
where he or she was born and at the current pace, the 
global community will not reach its global nutrition tar-
gets set for 2025: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms that— 
(A) food security and good nutrition in 
early childhood saves lives and lays the founda-
tion for healthy physical and cognitive growth 
and development; 
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(B) the potential benefit of good nutrition 
is life-long and influences a child’s entire fu-
ture, with entire communities and nations ulti-
mately prospering; 
(C) the right nutrition helps children learn, 
helps protect them from illness, increases their 
productivity and earning potential, and sup-
ports the well-being and health of their future 
offspring; and 
(D) women who are well-nourished and do 
not suffer from anemia are less likely to die in 
childbirth and to give birth to children who are 
malnourished, breaking the intergenerational 
cycle of malnutrition; 
(2) reaffirms that— 
(A) good nutrition is also an economic 
issue central to reducing poverty and putting 
countries on path to economic development; 
(B) adults who were well-nourished as chil-
dren earn up to 46 percent more than those 
who were malnourished; 
(C) countries with a very high burden of 
early childhood malnutrition have lower eco-
nomic growth rates due to lost income and pro-
ductivity; and 
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(D) the cost to nations is substantial with 
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) losses esti-
mated between 3 to 16 percent with overall po-
tential impacts to the global economy as high as 
$3.5 trillion per year; 
(3) commends United States leadership in help-
ing developing countries meet the nutritional needs 
of women and children, and supports continued ef-
forts; 
(4) commends United States Agency for Inter-
national Development’s (USAID) recognition that 
nutrition interventions are among the lifesaving 
interventions that can have the greatest impact in 
ending preventable child and maternal deaths; 
(5) recognizes the USAID Multi-Sectoral Nutri-
tion Strategy, the United States Government Global 
Nutrition Coordination Plan, and the Global Food 
Security Strategy as platforms through which to 
help reach global nutrition targets by 2025, as 
agreed to at the World Health Assembly in 2012; 
(6) recognizes the vision and goals of the Scal-
ing Up Nutrition movement as a global partnership 
to support country-led efforts to improve maternal 
and child nutrition involving governments, civil soci-
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ety, the United Nations, donors, businesses, and re-
searchers; 
(7) recognizes that progress against global mal-
nutrition must be accelerated using innovative, 
scaled-up approaches to improve the systems that af-
fect the nutritional status of women and children; 
and 
(8) calls for transformative efforts across sec-
tors at USAID— 
(A) to accelerate progress to end maternal 
and child malnutrition, including through Coun-
try Development Cooperation Strategies that 
align with country’s national nutrition plans; 
and 
(B) to include improved and clear methods 
to track nutrition funding and outcomes across 
all United States Government global nutrition 
programs, especially those in global health, food 
security, agriculture, basic education, food as-
sistance, and water, sanitation, and hygiene 
(WASH). 
Æ 
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