Glossary

The obligation of stakeholders to answer for and accept responsibility for their commitments and actions. Accountability ensures that decisions, programmes and policies of stakeholders are implemented, meet their stated objectives and respond to the communities they aim to benefit. Procedural accountability refers to the extent to which nutrition commitments have specificity and strong thematic alignment, such as being SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound), but may not be sufficient to deliver improved nutrition outcomes. Substantive accountability goes beyond well-specified commitments to assess whether actions are backed by secured financing, institutional capacity, coordination mechanisms and resilience planning.

Independent mechanism for setting standards and requirements for accountability, based on well-established principles and methods. Accountability mechanisms are central to holding those responsible to account, through active engagement, interaction and verification and tracking of reported information. Such mechanisms provide opportunities to collaborate, discuss, learn, share best practices and experiences and encourage further action. See procedural versus substantive accountability.

The interconnected processes and actors involved in supplying inputs, producing, processing, storing, transporting, trading, packaging, distributing, retailing, marketing, preparing and consuming food, and the outcomes these systems generate for nutrition, health, equity, livelihoods and the environment.

The diversity of crops, livestock, species and genetic resources within food systems that supports dietary diversity, ecosystem resilience and sustainable production.

Foods derived from animals, including meat, fish and other aquatic animals, eggs and dairy products, which can provide high-quality protein and essential micronutrients but vary widely in environmental impact, accessibility and nutritional relevance across contexts.

Financing approaches that use public or philanthropic funds to mobilise additional private investment by sharing risks or lowering barriers to entry for development‑relevant activities.

Shifting financial resources (including public, private or donor funding) away from fragmented, siloed or low-impact initiatives and reassigning them to higher-potential, newly prioritised or strategic initiatives. For this report, this means towards integrated, climate‑resilient food and health system interventions that can deliver healthy diets under climate stress.

Non-state, nonprofit organisation that represents, advocates for or delivers services on behalf of communities or constituencies.

The process of adjustment to actual or expected climate shifts and their effects in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities for nutrition, health and livelihoods, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Long-term shifts in temperature, precipitation patterns, sea levels and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes, natural external forces (such as volcanic eruptions or solar variations) or persistent human-caused changes in the composition of the atmosphere or land use.

Sudden, extreme climate‑related events such as droughts, floods, storms or heat wave that disrupt food, health and social systems.

Long-term climate and environmental pressures, such as rising temperatures, water scarcity and soil degradation, that gradually undermine system performance and resilience.

An approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support development and ensure food security under a changing climate. This includes those that aim to - in ways that do not negatively impact the climate - increase productivity, strengthen resilience to climate stress, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or support access to or production of nutrient-dense foods, particularly for smallholder farmers and vulnerable groups.

Coordinated policies, programmes and/or actions across multiple sectors, such as health, agriculture, education, social protection, water and sanitation and finance, to address the underlying and immediate causes of malnutrition.

Public or multilateral financial institutions established to support development objectives through the provision of finance and related instruments. Examples include the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Dietary diversity (or dietary variety) refers to the variety in the number and types of foods in a person’s diet over a reference period. Consensus is in process on the optimal standardised measure for dietary diversity, though indicators such as minimum dietary diversity for women are gaining in popularity. It is also used as a proxy measure for food security, adequacy of energy/nutrient intake and diet quality.

The extent to which a diet meets nutritional needs, supports health and avoids excessive intake of nutrients associated with disease risk. It includes variety and/or diversity (within and across food groups), adequacy (sufficiency of nutrients or food groups compared to requirements), moderation (foods and nutrients that should be consumed with restraint) and overall balance (composition of macronutrient intake). This should translate into diets that meet nutrient requirements, include a variety of foods across food groups, ensure appropriate macronutrient distribution and limit added sugars, salt and unhealthy fats, as well as consider exposure to food safety hazards.

Dietary transition refers to long-term shifts in the composition and patterns of diets within populations, typically associated with economic development, urbanisation and changes in food systems, leading to changes in the types, quantities and quality of foods consumed (e.g. shifts towards diets higher in fats, sugars, animal-source foods and processed foods).

Any stakeholder making a commitment outside their own geographic boundaries, entity or workforce, for example by providing financial, technical or in-kind (nonfinancial) resources to support actions, programmes or initiatives. For example, a government can make commitments to improve nutrition through financially or nonfinancial support in another country. Similarly, philanthropies, private-sector businesses and multilateral organisations can function as donors.

One of three categories of the Nutrition Action Classification System, identifying actions to establish an enabling environment for effective nutrition action across all sectors (including multisectoral actions). These actions are designed to improve the contextual - social, economic, political, cultural or environmental - conditions within which effective and sustained action aiming to improve nutrition outcomes is taken. They reflect the willingness to act on nutrition and ensure readiness for political commitment, capacity and coordination across different administrative levels and among decision-makers in nutrition and all other involved sectors.

The extent to which food and nutrition actions protect or enhance land, water, biodiversity and climate systems rather than degrading them.

Equity seeks to reduce avoidable or remediable disparities in outcomes (e.g. dietary intake, nutritional status and related conditions/diseases) caused by structural barriers in access to high-quality food or health systems goods or services, amongst individuals or population groups (which can be based on socially, economically, demographically or geographically defined characteristics).

A sub-category of the enabling action category of the Nutrition Action Classification System. It includes actions that aim to secure, raise or commit financial resources and investments for nutrition-specific and/or nutrition-sensitive actions. For the 2025 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit, France as the host focused on two main categories of commitments, those that were financial and those that were political (all commitments that were not financial), a distinction for which the Global Nutrition Report (GNR) accounted while maintaining the structure of the Nutrition Action Classification System.

The underlying conditions, such as the availability, accessibility and desirability of food, that shape dietary patterns and nutritional status outcomes. As well as the physical environment, this encompasses the economic, political, social and cultural contexts within which people and their dietary options and choices are situated.

Food that is produced for human consumption but is not ultimately eaten. It refers to the reduction in quantity or quality of food along the supply chain, during the production, post-harvest handling, storage, processing, retail, food service and consumption stages.

Food and nutrition security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life, and when adequate food, health, care and feeding practices ensure optimal nutritional status. This includes having consistent access to safe, affordable foods and beverages that promote well-being while preventing, and in some cases, treating disease. It encompasses the quantity, safety and nutritional content of foods and beverages and their economic and physical accessibility.

The right of peoples, communities and countries to define their own food and agriculture systems, prioritising locally appropriate, culturally acceptable, sustainable and equitable food production, distribution and consumption. Food sovereignty emphasises local control over resources, participation in decision‑making and protection of livelihoods, particularly for small‑scale producers and Indigenous groups.

The activities and actors that take food from production through consumption to the disposal of its waste, including input supply, production, processing, storage, transportation, trading, packaging, distributing, retailing, marketing, preparing, consuming and disposing of food waste.

The interconnected elements (including environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures and institutions) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food, and the outputs of these activities, including socioeconomic and environmental outcomes.

The capacity of food systems to anticipate, absorb, adapt to and transform in response to shocks and stresses, such as climate extremes, conflict or economic crises, while ensuring food and nutrition security for all, in the short and long term.

The process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including policies, programmes and legislation, in all areas and at all levels, with the goal of ensuring that gender perspectives and gender equity are central to their design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Policies, programmes and interventions that actively seek to change inequitable gender norms, roles and power relations in order to achieve lasting gender equity, rather than simply recognising, responding to or accommodating existing inequities.

As referred to in the 2026 Global Nutrition Report, the global nutrition targets encompass (1) the six targets endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2012 with regards to maternal, infant and young child nutrition (reduce stunting and wasting in children under 5, halt the epidemic of obesity in children under 5, reduce anaemia in women of reproductive age, reduce low birth weight and increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding), and (2) the three diet-related voluntary global non-communicable disease (NCD) targets endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2013 (halt the rise in diabetes and obesity, reduce salt/sodium intake and reduce the prevalence of high blood pressure/hypertension).

Public authorities at any administrative level within the remit of a country that are responsible for policymaking, regulation, service delivery or public financing. Governments may or may not function in a donor capacity.

The organisations, people and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore or maintain health, including delivery of essential nutrition services across the life-course. Health systems are not only hospitals and clinics, but the full network of actors, institutions and activities whose main purpose is improving health outcomes.

One of three categories of the Nutrition Action Classification System, identifying commitments designed to directly achieve improved nutrition outcomes (from undernutrition to obesity and diet-related NCDs in the population). The nutrition actions falling under this category use as 'tools’ the policies and interventions (policy actions) already in place in an enabling environment (enabling actions) to improve the population’s nutritional status.

The deliberate coordination and alignment of policies, strategies and interventions across sectors, actors and levels to address interconnected challenges, such as those related to nutrition, food systems, health systems, social protection and climate action, in a coherent and mutually reinforcing way. In this report, integration refers not only to coordination across sectors, but to aligning financing, governance, delivery platforms and accountability mechanisms.

The system by which a country or an organisation (e.g. philanthropy, food industry or health facility) is governed and operates with regards to advancing the food and nutrition agenda across sectors, as well as the mechanisms for determining food and nutrition policy and by which those in control are held accountable.

Inadequate and/or excessive intake of macro (calories, protein, fats) energy and/or micronutrients (from iron and calcium to vitamins). This includes both ‘undernutrition’ and what is sometimes referred to as ‘overnutrition’. Although undernutrition is an appropriate term for caloric and nutrient deficiency (including stunting, wasting, underweight and micronutrient deficiencies), overnutrition fails to capture the complexity of poor diets that cause obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. Therefore, for the latter, the Global Nutrition Report refers instead to ‘overweight, obesity and diet-related NCDs’.

Micronutrient deficiency is caused by inadequate intake or absorption of one or more vitamins or minerals, increased needs, or illness, leading to suboptimal nutrition status and problems such as anaemia, impaired immunity, stunted growth, vision issues and cognitive impairment. On the other hand, 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).

An international or regional organisation established by multiple countries or entities to pursue shared objectives through collective action and cooperation, such as United Nations (UN) agencies and the West African Health Organisation. They may or may not function in a donor capacity.

A country-led process under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to identify medium- and long-term priorities for adapting to climate stressors and implement strategies and programmes to address those needs, ideally integrating nutrition and health considerations.

A country’s pledge in its national climate action plan under the UNFCCC, setting out how the country commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and/or adapting to climate change, in line with its national circumstances and capabilities.

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. Four key types of NCDs are: 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. The GNR refers to NCDs related to diet (or nutrition) as ‘diet-related NCDs’. These are primarily obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and specific cancer types.

The Nutrition Accountability Framework (NAF) was developed by the GNR to enable the formulation, registration and tracking of SMART nutrition commitments in the Nutrition Year of Action and beyond. The NAF was launched in September 2021 in response to the call for more action and strengthened accountability for nutrition by national governments, international organisations and the Group of Seven leaders. Building from the example of the GNR’s Nutrition for Growth Tracker, the NAF is the world’s accountability framework for committing to and equitably tracking nutrition action, using comprehensive and transparent methods. The goal of the NAF is to inform, shape and inspire action with independent and trusted data and evidence on policy, practice and financing that results in greater accountability and progress in advancing nutrition globally.

Any strategy, policy, intervention, programme or investment intended to tackle poor diets and malnutrition in all its forms.

The stated and formally registered intent to address poor diets and/or malnutrition in all its forms through SMART nutrition actions. A commitment is what the commitment maker is committing to achieve, tracked by the primary indicator specified in the registration form (to assess progress made). The commitment should be nutrition related, whether nutrition-specific or nutrition-sensitive. Some examples of commitments are to reduce stunting in children under 5 years of age, to reduce anaemia in women of reproductive age, to design a national nutrition action plan, to invest US$500 million in nutrition-specific interventions, to establish a regulatory body for nutrition and to increase the national budget dedicated to nutrition.

A global high-level political and financing forum bringing together government, civil society, philanthropy, multilateral agencies, academia and private industry to mobilise commitments and action to end malnutrition in all forms. These events have occurred every four years since the first, in 2013 in London. Endorsers of that first N4G Compact agreed to “improved transparency and mutual monitoring and accountability” and called for a framework and a global report on nutrition, and the first Global Nutrition Report was published soon after, in 2014. The most recent summit (as of the 2026 Global Nutrition Report) was in Paris in 2025.

Actions or policies that target the underlying factors, systems and institutions that affect nutrition status and outcomes, such as education, agriculture, social protection, water, sanitation and hygiene, infectious disease control and reproductive health. Nutrition-sensitive actions do not have improved nutrition as the primary objective but can reduce the causes and manifestations of malnutrition and increase the scale and effectiveness of nutrition-specific interventions. To be considered nutrition-sensitive, actions must include specific references to nutrition outcomes or activities.

Actions or policies specifically designed to resolve or prevent defined nutrition issues. These aim to address the more immediate determinants of nutrition and health, such as improving infant and young child feeding practices, food and nutrient intakes and nutrition-related health outcomes.

Government aid that promotes and specifically targets the economic development and welfare of developing countries. It had been the main source of financing for development aid since adopted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee in 1969. Now, development grants and investments by the largest private philanthropic foundations exceed the official development assistance of many of the largest donor countries.

A person is overweight or obese if they have excessive fat accumulation that poses a risk to health. There are different methods to classify overweight or obesity depending on age. 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 25 kg/m², and obesity as a BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m².

The N4G Summit, hosted by the Government of France in Paris, took place on the 27-28 March 2025. The Summit’s vision and roadmap call for decisive and bold political and financial commitments to scale up ambitions in the fight against malnutrition in all its forms and accelerate progress towards the achievement of global nutrition targets by 2030. The themes selected by France as summit host were nutrition, health and social protection; nutrition and the transition to sustainable, climate‑smart and resilient food systems; nutrition and resilience to crises; nutrition and gender equality; data, research, innovation and artificial intelligence; and financing and accountability for nutrition.

Nongovernmental, nonprofit entities whose primary purpose is to provide financial or in-kind resources to support public benefit activities.

A dietary pattern that emphasises foods derived primarily from plants, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, while limiting or excluding animal‑source foods in varying degrees. In the context of nutrition and food systems, plant‑based diets are often discussed for their potential benefits for health, environmental sustainability and resilience, while requiring attention to diet quality, cultural context and micronutrient adequacy.

One of the three categories of the Nutrition Action Classification System, referring to strategies, policies, interventions or programmes that aim to improve nutrition outcomes both directly and indirectly. Having built an enabling environment for nutrition, this category reflects the scaling up of nutrition efforts through committing to actions in nutrition policy (including policies, strategies, interventions and/or programmes). Such actions are generally population-based strategies with a broad reach that are crucial complements to efforts to reach individuals.

The simultaneous occurrence of multiple, interconnected crises, such as climate change, conflict, pandemics and economic shocks, that interact with and amplify each other, producing compounded and cascading impacts on food, health and nutrition systems that are more severe than the sum of their individual effects.

A whole-of-society approach to organising health systems that ensures essential health services are accessible, equitable and community centred across the life-course, serving as a key platform for delivering nutrition actions at scale.

An organisation that is not owned or operated by the government and is constituted for profit. This includes any individuals, institutions, organisations, associations, coalitions and corporate philanthropic foundations that represent private-sector interests, even if any commercial activity is not directly connected.

The extent to which nutrition commitments have specificity and strong thematic alignment, such as being SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound), but may not be sufficient to deliver improved nutrition outcomes.

Organisation whose primary mandate is the generation, synthesis or dissemination of research and evidence.

The capacity of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from their effects in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration - if not enhancement - of its essential basic structures and functions.

The SUN Movement, led by countries, is devoted to supporting members’ commitments and accountability around action on malnutrition.

SMART criteria are used to develop SMART nutrition commitments. For each of these five criteria, specific information (ingredients) were identified and are collected for each commitment.

A set of policies and programmes designed to prevent or protect all people against poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion throughout their life-course, with particular emphasis on vulnerable groups.

People and organisations with a vested interest in the policy being promoted or affected by a common action and decision. They are typically defined as a group based on type, including governments, philanthropies, multilateral organisations, civil society organisations, private sector, development finance and research institutions.

Stunting refers to the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. 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.

Substantive accountability goes beyond well-specified commitments to assess whether actions are backed by secured financing, institutional capacity, coordination mechanisms and resilience planning.

A set of integrated goals, targets and indicators, agreed by the UN General Assembly in 2015, for the achievement of socially, economically and environmentally sustainable development.

Dietary patterns that promote all dimensions of an individual's health and well-being, are environmentally sustainable, culturally acceptable, accessible, affordable and safe and contribute to long-term food system resilience.

The N4G Tokyo Summit, hosted by the Government of Japan in Tokyo, took place 7–8 December 2021. The Summit’s vision and roadmap call to integrate nutrition into universal health coverage, build climate-smart food systems that promote healthy diets and nutrition and ensure livelihoods of producers and address malnutrition effectively within fragile and conflict-affected contexts. It is the immediate predecessor to the N4G Paris 2025 Summit.

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.

Universal health coverage (UHC), also known as universal healthcare, is a healthcare system in which all people are assured access to essential healthcare services without facing financial hardship.

Children who are too thin because of undernutrition are ‘wasted’. The 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.