Helen Keller International Issues How-To Guide to Improve Nutrition Services

Dakar, Senegal, August 23, 2005 – Helen Keller International (HKI) has released a newly improved How-To Guide for quality assessment of nutrition services offered in health care facilities.  HKI first issued the guide from its Africa Regional Office in 2003, and has updated it following a field test in Sierra Leone and multiple reviews by child survival experts.

As the accessibility to and quantity of health services continues to increase, the assurance that quality nutrition services are included is crucial.  In a presentation to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), David Pelletier, Associate Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, highlighted the link between malnutrition and physical growth, cognitive development, and morbidity and mortality.  In addition, maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly iron-deficiency anemia and repeated malaria and parasitic infections, are closely linked to nutrition care.  Professor Pelletier emphasized exclusive breastfeeding and adequate micronutrient intake as key interventions to combat malnutrition, and his recommendations are among those included in HKI’s revised How-To Guide.

Designed to be easily adaptable to assess the nutrition elements of prenatal, postpartum, and sick- and well-child visits, the guide is currently available for download in English with a French version to be available shortly.