Peer-reviewed article
Maternal and Child Nutrition in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries: A Comparative Review of India and Palestine With Policy Implications
Ali Jebreen, Huma Parveen ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This is a narrative review comparing maternal and child nutrition in India and Palestine, using literature from 2010 to 2024. It describes India's progress on stunting and maternal anaemia through national programmes, alongside persistent regional and socioeconomic gaps and a growing double burden of malnutrition. In Palestine, conflict, occupation and economic hardship drive a serious nutrition crisis. The review suggests the two settings can learn from each other and calls for multi-sectoral action backed by government commitment and monitoring.
Key points
- India has made significant improvement in child stunting and maternal anaemia through POSHAN Abhiyaan, ICDS and Anaemia Mukt Bharat.
- Geographic and socioeconomic gaps remain in India, and the double burden of malnutrition (undernutrition and overweight) is growing.
- About 19.6% of Palestinian children are stunted, and iron-deficiency anaemia is common among pregnant women.
- Both countries face micronutrient deficiencies, poor infant and young child feeding practices, and gender inequities affecting maternal nutrition.
- Sustainable improvement needs multi-sectoral responses across health, agriculture, education and social protection, plus policies that address structural, socioeconomic and (in Palestine) political determinants.
Limitations
The review used a structured but non-exhaustive search and a narrative rather than systematic synthesis, so it may have missed studies and cannot give pooled or causal estimates of programme effects. Only the abstract is available, so details of the included studies and how they were assessed are unknown.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Maternal and child malnutrition is a serious public health problem in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and can cause cycles of poverty, disease, and developmental delays. OBJECTIVE: This comparative narrative review explores maternal and child nutrition indicators, determinants, interventions and policies in India and Palestine and identifies common lessons and transferable recommendations for LMICs. METHODS: A structured, non-exhaustive search of the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and WHO/UNICEF data repositories and some relevant grey literature published from 2010 to 2024 was used to obtain these narratives. Records were reviewed with background eligibility criteria and the evidence included was then thematically synthesised in a narrative format rather than systematically. KEY FINDINGS: India has achieved significant improvement in addressing child stunting and maternal anaemia through key initiatives like POSHAN Abhiyaan, ICDS, and Anaemia Mukt Bharat. However, there are still significant geographic and socioeconomic gaps, and the double burden of malnutrition (undernutrition and overweight) is growing. Palestine is experiencing a unique but significant nutrition crisis, due to prolonged conflict, occupation, and economic turmoil: Around 19.6% of Palestinian children are stunted and IDA is common among pregnant women. Both countries face issues of micronutrient deficiencies, poor infant and young child feeding practices, and gender inequities which negatively impact maternal nutrition. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: The two successful interventions have complementary lessons for each other: the convergence model in India, which is community based, and the integration of nutrition into primary healthcare in Palestine, which benefits from international partnerships. Multi-sectoral responses involving collaboration between the health, agriculture, education, and social protection sectors are needed, with a strong governmental commitment and monitoring systems. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights that nutrition-specific clinical interventions are essential but that sustainable nutrition improvements need to be implemented through policies that address the underlying structural, socioeconomic, and, in Palestine, the political determinants of malnutrition. The lessons learned from India and Palestine are broadly relevant to other LMICs in a similar context of nutrition transitions.