Importance of Nutrition Before and During the First 1,000 Days

The ‘First 1,000 Days’ – the period from conception to 2 years of age – has been adopted as a highly effective focal point to concentrate global efforts to combat malnutrition. It emphasises the crucial importance of an adequate and balanced nutrient supply for the fetus which, by the time of birth, will have undergone the vast majority of the differentiating cell cycles required to form a new human. It also covers the period in infancy and the second year of life when children in low-income settings frequently show a major degree of growth faltering. However, whilst the First 1000 Days has been an important advocacy tool, it has some serious limitations and must hence be used with discretion.