Paris, France – The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced 13 ambitious commitments across 8 key areas at the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit , hosted by the Government of France. The Summit raised US$ 28 billion in global funding for nutrition – an increase from the previous milestone of US$ 27 billion in 2021. This represents positive and hopeful moment for global solidarity amidst major funding crises faced in the development aid sector. It also showcases growing commitments from countries to improve health and well-being for all through nutrition.
Malnutrition remains a global crisis, affecting every country. In 2022, approximately 390 million adults 18 years and older worldwide were underweight, while 2.5 billion were overweight, including 890 million living with obesity. Additionally, 148 million children under 5 years suffered from stunting, and 37 million were overweight or obese. Nearly half of all deaths among children under 5 are linked to undernutrition, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries.
WHO commitments aim to accelerate progress towards ending all forms of malnutrition and achieving the Global Nutrition Targets and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
"Malnutrition in all its forms is one of the greatest global health challenges of our time. WHO is answering the N4G call for bold action with concrete, time-bound commitments that will drive measurable impact and accelerate progress," said Dr Luz María De Regil, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave closing remarks , expressing gratitude to the Government of France for their leadership in organizing the summit and emphasizing that "nutrition is the foundation of health, and therefore of thriving individuals, families, communities, societies and economies … by contrast, where there is malnutrition of any form, disease follows close behind." Dr Tedros also underscored WHO's commitment to ensuring global access to essential nutrition services and safe, healthy and sustainable diets.
Key WHO commitments:
Anaemia: WHO will enhance the prevention, diagnosis and management of anaemia, building off the 2023 Accelerating anaemia reduction: a comprehensive framework for action and collaborating with UNICEF and partners of the Anaemia Action Alliance. This will include updated guidance on anaemia management in pregnancy and postpartum patients along with updated estimates on the global prevalence of anaemia in high-risk groups.
Healthy diets: By 2027, WHO will release comprehensive guidance on optimal animal-source foods tailored to specific age, gender and country contexts. WHO will also address ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption with updated definitions and recommendations.
Monitoring: Annual updates on country scorecards for trans-fatty acids, sodium and sugars will be provided through the Global database on the Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action (GIFNA). These scorecards shows country progress towards recommended policies as outlined in the WHO Best buys for preventing NCDs as well as technical packages including REPLACE and SHAKE . In addition, by 2026 WHO will develop a dashboard illustrating country progress towards SDG2.2 and the 2030 Nutrition Targets, including operational targets.
School nutrition: By 2030, WHO will support 10 countries in adapting the WHO Guideline on School food and nutrition policies and work with partners to ensure school food and nutrition policies are in line with existing nutrition standards.
Sodium reduction: WHO will assist at least 10 countries in adopting global or regional sodium benchmarks and support 20 countries in implementing priority interventions for salt reduction in line with the SHAKE technical package and country scorecard indicators.
Obesity: By 2026, WHO will publish normative guidelines on the clinical management of obesity in children, adolescents and adults and support 34 frontrunner countries of the WHO acceleration plan to stop obesity in reducing obesity prevalence by 5% by 2030. This will include developing an accountability framework to track progress towards national obesity roadmaps across health systems and food and activity environments.
Wasting: Based on the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting: A framework for action to accelerate progress in preventing and managing child wasting (GAP) and the WHO guideline on the prevention and management of wasting and nutritional oedema (acute malnutrition) in infants and children under 5 years , WHO will aim to improve the prevention and treatment of wasting and nutritional oedema by developing implementation tools and supporting 25 frontrunner countries to scale up actions in collaboration with UNICEF and GAP partners.
Climate change: By 2030, WHO will assist 40 countries to integrate nutrition and health into their climate action plans, aligning with global efforts to achieve SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), and SDG 13 (climate action). In addition, WHO will publish new guidance on sustainable procurement standards for nutritious and sustainable food in health settings with dedicated support to 20 countries. This will be accomplished through the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate Action and Health (ATACH) in partnership with the Initiative on climate action and nutrition (I-CAN) .
These commitments reflect WHO's dedication to tackling malnutrition and promoting health and well-being worldwide. A replay of Nutrition for Growth Summit sessions can be found here .
