Project.

To strengthen partnerships to develop, promote, expand and measure the impact of innovative, multi-site, multi-targeted nutrition interventions among pregnant women and adolescents in Cameroon.

Cameroon – like most low- and middle-income countries – faces the double burden of malnutrition (DMN) and its consequences. DMR occurs in a context of nutritional transition associated with rapid economic development linked to globalisation. It is characterised by a double burden of disease, with a slow decline in undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and infectious diseases, and a rapid increase in the incidence of obesity and non-communicable diseases in the same population. Indeed, over the last 20 years, the prevalence of anaemia has remained stable at around 40% of women of childbearing age in Cameroon, while the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased from 28.7% to 37% in the same population. No segment of the population is spared by the DFM and unfortunately, the investments made to curb the progression of this endemic remain insufficient, especially among pregnant women, children and adolescents. Indeed, undernutrition, overweight or obesity in women – especially during pregnancy, children or adolescents – is a cause for concern, due to its immediate and long-term health consequences. Among the strategies to curb the spread of WHD, the availability of nutritional information and education, as well as a sufficient supply of quality food, are of major importance. The “Scaling-up Healthy Nutrition Interventions in Adolescents and Pregnancy” programme aims to develop and implement multi-level nutrition interventions, based on a social-ecological approach to health and specifically targeting 1) decision-makers with the involvement of decentralised local authorities, 2) pregnant women in the context of prenatal consultations and 3) adolescents in schools.