Micronutrient malnutrition means vitamin and mineral deficiencies. CDC's micronutrient malnutrition prevention and control program works with many partners to reduce them, and its work mainly benefits the people most likely to be deficient: infants, children, adolescents and women of childbearing age.
In the United States
Iron and iodine are critical for healthy births, fetal and child growth and brain development — yet the United States has no state-level data on iron or iodine status among pregnant women or children aged 5 and under.
CDC supports U.S. micronutrient policy and programs by:
- helping improve national surveillance;
- finding new ways to fill data gaps;
- improving case definitions for micronutrient malnutrition.
Abroad
CDC gives technical assistance, training and funding to other projects that reduce deficiencies, and has worked with other countries on:
| Country | Project |
|---|---|
| Ghana | iron and folic acid supplements for adolescents |
| Nepal | infant and young child feeding and a micronutrient powder program |
| Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Guatemala, Ghana, Uganda | nutrition surveillance systems and micronutrient surveys |
CDC also helps study how well interventions work and assess their results — real-world evidence that can improve micronutrient strategies and technical resources more widely.
Laboratory support
Detecting and diagnosing deficiencies depends on accurate, valid laboratory measurements, and some laboratories lack the resources for every step — planning, training, specimen collection, quality assurance and interpreting data.
The program works closely with two branches of CDC's Division of Laboratory Sciences — Nutritional Biomarkers, and Inorganic and Radiation Analytical Toxicology. They work on and advise CDC's projects, and run external quality assurance programs.
Resources
- Micronutrient Survey Manual and Toolkit — ready-made materials for survey planners assessing and monitoring the elimination of micronutrient malnutrition.
- Global Fortification Data Exchange — analysis and visualization of food fortification data, to track progress and help improve national fortification programs.
- Micronutrient Facts — the essential micronutrients and why they matter for health.
Sources
Based on "About Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The source's stock photographs are not reproduced.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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