Glossary
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Anaemia:
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- Anaemia is a medical condition in which a person’s red blood cell (or, more precisely, haemoglobin) level is less than normal. Anaemia is a global public health issue, faced by people in both low- and high-income countries, and is a particular concern for adolescent girls and women of reproductive age. There are many forms of anaemia, with different causes and treatment. The most common causes of anaemia include nutritional deficiencies, due to inadequate (or insufficient) intake of minerals (particularly iron) and vitamins from the diet. Share definition
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Commitments:
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- Commitments are made by different stakeholder groups including country, donor, civil society and business, many of whom signed the Compact of the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) 2013 Summit. Commitments are tracked by the N4G tracker on annual basis. Commitments at the country level range from regulatory and cross-sectoral policies for nutrition to increasing domestic support and implementing actions targeting maternal, infant and young child nutrition. At the business level, these include workforce policies to support maternal health and wellness and non-workforce commitments to improve nutrition delivered through the food system. At the civil society and donor level, these include actions to mobilise and align international resources, support country coordination and mobilise resources to scale up programmes. At the UN and donor level, these include jointly setting targets for nutrition with relevant Sustainable Development Goal indicators by the United Nations and UN member states. Share definition
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Commitment goals:
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- Each commitment made by a stakeholder consists of one or more measurable goals. A commitment goal is what the stakeholder has committed to achieve and is tracked through the N4G tracker under each commitment. Share definition
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Concessional loans:
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- Concessional loans are extended on terms substantially more generous than market loans. The concessionality is achieved either through interest rates below those available on the market or by grace periods, or a combination of these. Share definition
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Diet-related non-communicable disease (NCD) targets:
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- Diet- (or nutrition)-related NCD targets are four of the ten global nutrition targets adopted at the World Health Assembly in 2013, to be attained by 2025, including for salt/sodium intake, raised blood pressure, adult obesity and adult diabetes. For example, Target 4 is “Achieve a 30% relative reduction in mean population intake of salt/sodium”. Share definition
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Dietary diversity:
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- Dietary diversity (or dietary variety) refers to the variety in the number and type of foods in a person’s diet over a reference period. There is no consensus on the optimal standardised measure for dietary diversity. It is also used as a proxy measure for food security, adequacy of energy/nutrient intake and diet quality. Share definition
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Global nutrition targets:
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- Global nutrition targets here refer collectively to the World Health Assembly targets on both maternal, infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN), and on diet-related NCDs. These were adopted in 2012 (MIYCN) and 2013 (NCDs) by the World Health Assembly, to be reached by 2025. The 2025 global nutrition targets include targets for six MIYCN indicators: low birth weight, stunting in children under 5 years of age, wasting in children under 5 years of age, overweight in children under 5 years of age, anaemia in women of reproductive age, and exclusive breastfeeding. They also include targets for four diet-related NCD indicators in adults: salt/sodium intake, raised blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. Share definition
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Grants:
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- Grants are transfers made in cash, goods or services for which no repayment is required. Share definition
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Innovative financing:
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- The OECD defines innovative financing as mechanisms of raising funds or stimulating actions in support of international development that go beyond traditional spending approaches by either the official or private sectors. Share definition
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Malnutrition:
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- Malnutrition, in all its forms, refers to both undernutrition (including stunting, wasting, underweight and micronutrient deficiencies) and overweight, obesity and other diet-related NCDs. It includes a range of diet-related conditions caused by not having enough calories, nutrients or quality (healthy) food, or having too much low-quality (or unhealthy) food. Share definition
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Maternal, infant and young child nutrition targets:
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- The maternal, infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN) targets are six global targets adopted at the World Health Assembly in 2012, to be attained by 2025, on: low birth weight, stunting in children under 5 years of age, wasting in children under 5 years of age, overweight in children under 5 years of age, anaemia in women of reproductive age, and exclusive breastfeeding. For example, Target 1 is “Achieve a 40% reduction in the number of children under 5 who are stunted”. Share definition
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Micronutrients:
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- Micronutrients are dietary components, commonly known as vitamins and minerals. They are critical to health, despite being required in only small amounts. They include minerals such as iron, calcium, sodium, magnesium, zinc and iodine, and vitamins such as A, B group (such as folate), C and D. Share definition
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Micronutrient deficiencies:
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- Micronutrient deficiencies are caused by inadequate (or insufficient) intake or absorption of one or more vitamins or minerals and lead to suboptimal nutrition status. Although less common than deficiencies, taking in too many of some micronutrients, usually from supplementing with excess amounts, may also lead to adverse effects (micronutrient toxicity). Share definition
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Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and diet-related NCDs:
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- NCDs are non-infectious chronic diseases that last a long time, progress slowly, and are caused by a combination of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors, including lifestyle/behavioural, environmental, physiological and genetic factors. There are four main types of NCDs: cardiovascular disease (e.g., coronary heart disease, stroke), diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory disease. Obesity is both a chronic disease and a risk factor for other NCDs. We refer to NCDs related to diet (or nutrition) as ‘diet-related NCDs’. These mainly include obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and specific cancer types. Share definition
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Nutrition-sensitive:
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- Nutrition-sensitive actions are interventions, programmes or policies in sectors other than nutrition that address the underlying determinants of fetal and child nutrition and development, and incorporate specific nutrition goals and actions. Sectors include agriculture, health, social protection, early child development, education, and water and sanitation. Share definition
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Nutrition-specific:
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- Nutrition-specific actions are interventions, programmes or policies intended to have a direct impact on immediate determinants of nutrition. Nutrition-specific actions can include: promotion of adequate food and nutrient intake; feeding, caregiving and parenting practices; and prevention of infectious diseases. Examples are breastfeeding promotion, disease management and treatment of acute malnutrition in emergencies. Share definition
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Official development assistance (ODA):
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- Official Development Assistance is defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) as foreign (government) aid to developing countries and territories on the DAC list of ODA recipients and from multilateral development institutions designed to promote their economic development and welfare. Share definition
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Overweight and obesity:
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- A person is overweight or obese if they have excessive fat accumulation that poses a risk to their health. Being obese means having more excessive fat than being overweight. Depending on age, there are different methods to classify overweight or obesity. Body mass index (BMI), which is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in metres, is used as a population-level screening tool to classify overweight or obesity in adults. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines overweight in adults as a BMI greater than or equal to 25kg/m², and obesity as a BMI greater than or equal to 30kg/m². See Appendix 1 for definitions of overweight and obesity by age as used in the present report. Share definition
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Risk factor:
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- A risk factor is an attribute or characteristic of a person or something they are exposed to that increases their chance of developing a disease, infection or injury. If a person has more risk factors for a given disease, they are more likely to get it. Risk factors can be classified as modifiable or non-modifiable. Modifiable risk factors can be changed, such as through lifestyle changes (like diet, smoking and physical activity) and environmental conditions. Non-modifiable factors, such as age, sex and ethnicity, cannot be changed. For example, high salt/sodium intake is a modifiable dietary risk factor for coronary heart disease. Share definition
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Stunting:
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- Stunting refers to the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines childhood stunting (moderate and severe) as a length- or height-for-age z-score more than two standard deviations below the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards. Children who are stunted are also more likely to be wasted. See Appendix 1 for the definition of stunting used in the present report. Share definition
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Thinness:
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- Thinness is defined as a form of undernutrition in school-age children and adolescents when a person’s body mass index is less than 2 standard deviations below the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards. Share definition
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Undernutrition:
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- Undernutrition is a diet-related condition resulting from insufficient food intake to meet needs for energy and nutrients. It includes being underweight, too short (stunted) or too thin (wasted) for age or height, or deficient in vitamins and minerals (micronutrients). Being undernourished means suffering from undernutrition. Share definition
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Underweight:
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- Underweight is a form of undernutrition when body weight, or weight for height, is too low for a person’s age. Share definition
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Universal health coverage (UHC):
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- UHC is a healthcare system in which all people are assured access to essential healthcare services without facing financial hardship. Share definition
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Wasting:
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- Children who are too thin because of undernutrition are ‘wasted’. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines childhood wasting as a weight-for-length or weight-for-height z-score more than two standard deviations below the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards. Children who are wasted are more likely to be stunted. See Appendix 1 for the definition of wasting used in the present report. Share definition