Devex: Nutrition is first and foremost a political challenge, says Gates nutrition lead
“…Shawn Baker, director of the nutrition team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leads their work on what has become a growing priority for the largest foundation in the world: ensuring that women and children get the nutrition they need. … [Recently, he was] focusing on the Global Nutrition Summit in Milan, Italy, on Saturday. The event builds on the first major global pledging moment for the nutrition challenge, which took place in London in 2013, and resulted in commitments to expand the reach of nutrition interventions in the first 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday…” (Cheney, 11/3).

The Guardian: ‘A danger to future generations’: $640m pledged as third of world malnourished
“Donors have pledged an extra $640m (£490m) to reduce the serious burden of malnutrition, which affects one in three people in the world. The crisis ‘endangers the physical and mental wellbeing of present and future generations’, warned Kofi Annan, speaking in advance of the global nutrition summit in Milan on Saturday. ‘We need further urgent investments so that people, communities, and nations can reach their full potential’…” (McVeigh, 11/3).

Reuters: Millions either malnourished or obese in global nutrition crisis
“Almost every country in the world now has serious nutrition problems, either due to over-eating leading to obesity or a lack of food leading to undernutrition, according to a major study published on Saturday. Researchers behind the Global Nutrition Report, which looked at 140 countries, said the problems were ‘putting the brakes on human development as a whole’ and called for a critical change in the response to this global health threat…” (Kelland, 11/3).

Reuters: Focused on ending hunger, Africa neglects rising obesity
“Focused for decades on ending hunger, African countries have largely failed to address a rising obesity epidemic that could soon become the greater public health crisis, experts said as new data was released. A quarter of the world’s 41 million overweight children under five live in Africa, a figure that has nearly doubled on the continent in the last two decades, according to the Global Nutrition Report published on Saturday…” (Peyton, 11/6).

Associated Press/ABC News: Event tackles child malnutrition as economic imperative
“The only woman to have been the first lady of two countries said Saturday during an international nutrition summit held in Italy that a major challenge in making the eradication of malnutrition a global priority is that the problem ‘is a hidden pandemic.’ ‘It is not visible in daily life,’ Graca Machel, a campaigner for the rights of women and girls and the widow of both Mozambican President Samora Machel and South African President Nelson Mandela, said at the meeting in Milan…” (Barry, 11/4).