Impatient Optimists
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Topics / Nutrition

Proper nutrition improves children’s health and the quality of their lives for years to come. Two billion people in the developing world suffer due to poor nutrition. We’re working to improve diets of people in the developing world and ensure proper nutrition for young children and mothers.

Learn more below and visit the program page for more details about our work in this area.

Getting Good Nutrition Safely to Young Children: Do We Have What It Takes?

April 25, 2013 / Gary Darmstadt, Alex Reid

While the results of recent research were not expected, we would be wise to pay attention to them. As we continue to support implementation of micronutrient programs, we need to learn more about their safety through systematic monitoring as well as their health benefits.

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New Report: Smart Investment in Nutrition Needed Now

April 18, 2013 / Kanika Bahl

A new report from Results for Development (R4D) Institute calls on the global community to creatively scale access to micronutrient powders (MNPs) and make a significant contribution toward reaching the 95% of children still in need.

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Meet Frank: An Aspiring Journalist, YouTube Star, and Malnutrition Survivor

April 12, 2013 / Rosie Childs

Meet Frank, he's 15 and when he was younger he nearly died from severe malnutrition. Sometimes people say that charities present people in Africa as being passive victims, that we might be defining Frank by the fact that he has suffered from hunger. What people often forget to do is ask the person in question.

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Integrating Nutrition and Agriculture

April 10, 2013 / Alesha Black, Shelly Sundberg

Today, we’re launching a Request for Letters of Inquiry (link to RLI) that focuses on integrating nutrition into agricultural activities.

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Born Too Small: The Weight of Newborn Health

April 09, 2013 / Gary Darmstadt, Ellen Piwoz, Wendy Prosser

Unfortunately, far too many babies are born too small, particularly in low-income countries. Prevalence of low birth weight is highest in South Asia, with sub-Saharan Africa a close second. And it’s not because of missing a second helping of lunch or dinner.

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  • "Our desire to bring every good thing to our children is a force for good throughout the world. It’s what propels societies forward." —Melinda Gates

  • The Global Fund has helped to deliver more than 190 million bed nets to protect families from malaria.

  • "The world faces a clear choice. If we invest relatively small amounts, many more poor farmers will be able to feed their families." —Bill Gates, 2012 Annual Letter

  • "When it come to global health, Bill and I are optimists—but we're impatient optimists. Tremendous progress is being made. But there is still so much we're impatient to see done." —Melinda French Gates

  • In Senegal, 80% of households now have a bed net, helping the number of malaria cases there drop 50% in a single year.

©2013 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation