Nutrition advocacy and national development: the PROFILES programme and its application.

Investment in nutritional programmes can contribute to economic growth and is cost-effective in improving child survival and development. In order to communicate this to decision-makers, the PROFILES nutrition advocacy and policy development programme was applied in certain developing countries. Effective advocacy is necessary to generate financial and political support for scaling up from small pilot projects and maintaining successful national programmes. The programme uses scientific knowledge to estimate development indicators such as mortality, morbidity, fertility, school performance and labour productivity from the size and nutritional condition of populations. Changes in nutritional condition are estimated from the costs, coverage and effectiveness of proposed programmes. In Bangladesh this approach helped to gain approval and funding for a major nutrition programme. PROFILES helped to promote the nutrition component of an early childhood development programme in the Philippines, and to make nutrition a top priority in Ghana's new national child survival strategy. The application of PROFILES in these and other countries has been supported by the United States Agency for International Development, the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Micronutrient Initiative and other bodies.

PIP: This paper describes a database approach to nutrition policy development and advocacy. The PROFILES nutrition advocacy and policy development program was applied in such developing countries as Bangladesh, Philippines, and Ghana. It has been used to increase awareness among decision-makers of the need for greater investment in nutrition, to facilitate the design and selection of programs, and to promote particular interventions that were already being designed. The program uses scientific knowledge to estimate development indicators such as mortality, morbidity, fertility, school performance, and labor productivity from the size and nutritional condition of populations. Nutritional condition changes were estimated from the costs, coverage and effectiveness of proposed programs. This nutritional program contributes to economic growth and is cost-effective in improving child survival and development. Thus, this approach has been successful: in Bangladesh, it played a vital role in bringing the government to accept the young child nutrition program and obtaining approval for assisted funding; in the Philippines, PROFILES also helped in developing and advocating an early childhood development program that included a large nutrition component in combination with health, family planning and educational components; in Ghana, it helped make nutrition the government's top priority, as evidenced by the Ministry of Health's new child survival strategy.

The use of mass media to promote breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding promotion is currently hampered by four major problems: the decline in funding for campaigns; failure to use mass media; lack of program evaluation; and vague messages. Thorough social marketing research could determine why women are turning away from breastfeeding and what messages could be used to make breastfeeding a more attractive feeding option. Similar efforts should be made to include breastfeeding messages in other programs, such as family planning, growth monitoring, and oral rehydration therapy.

The use of mass media to promote breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding promotion is currently hampered by four major problems: the decline in funding for campaigns; failure to use mass media; lack of program evaluation; and vague messages. Thorough social marketing research could determine why women are turning away from breastfeeding and what messages could be used to make breastfeeding a more attractive feeding option. Similar efforts should be made to include breastfeeding messages in other programs, such as family planning, growth monitoring, and oral rehydration therapy.