Optimal Infant and Young Child Nutrition and Development
High-quality nutrition in a child’s early years is essential for healthy growth and development and achieving a strong start in life.
High-quality nutrition in a child’s early years is essential for healthy growth and development and achieving a strong start in life. Yet around the world, 150.2 million children under five are stunted as a result of malnutrition. 45.4 million were estimated to be too thin for their height [1]. Far too many children, including millions in Asia, face a daily challenge in achieving optimal nutrition, often as a result of their families lacking sufficient knowledge, information or resources.
Source: Global Overview; UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates [1]
The challenge of providing optimal infant and young child nutrition is complex and multifaceted.
Critically, mothers and caregivers need to know the facts about optimal infant and young child nutrition, so they can make informed choices to do what is best for their children, in consultation with healthcare professionals.
One of the best solutions to promote healthy growth and development is to protect and promote exclusive breastfeeding. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child’s life. After the sixth month, when breast milk alone is not able to meet the nutritional needs of infants, parents must introduce appropriate, safe and nutritious food to their children’s diets.
Countless babies around the world have thrived on infant formula, and when mothers are unable to breastfeed or choose not to, a safe and nutritious alternative is required. In this context, scientifically developed and clinically demonstrated breast-milk substitutes (BMS) are the only recognised and proven alternative to breastfeeding for infants.
We believe that every infant and young child deserves high-quality, nutritious and safe food for the best nutritional start in life.
APIYCNA’s members stand ready to share their knowledge, expertise, insights and resources with stakeholders to identify nutritional issues and to provide our input to relevant policy frameworks to ensure that as many children as possible get the best nutritional start in life.
The bottom line is this – when children do well, families thrive. That is why our industry’s products include all the essential nutrients for healthy growth and support the key areas of development in early childhood.
Useful links and resources:
WHO Breastfeeding – WHO explained the vital role of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding alongside complementary foods up to two years or beyond. It highlights the essential immune and nutritional benefits of breast milk for infant survival and maternal health, while promoting global initiatives, healthcare policies, and supportive environments that enable mothers to initiate and sustain breastfeeding.
WHO Infant and Young Child Feeding Fact Sheet – This WHO resource outlines foundational global standards for early childhood nutrition, emphasising exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months followed by safe, nutrient-dense complementary feeding through age two or beyond. It underscores the critical role of sound feeding practices in preventing global child mortality and addresses the complex challenges of stunting, wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies in early development.
WHO Complementary Feeding – Serving as a central hub for child nutrition transitions, this page addresses the critical window from six to 23 months when breast milk alone no longer fulfils a growing child’s nutritional requirements and strategies to support healthy growth, curb stunting, and lower long-term risks of childhood obesity.
WHO Guideline for Complementary Feeding of Infants and Young Children 6–23 months – Published in 2023, this WHO guideline offers updated evidence-based recommendations for introducing solid foods at six months while continuing breastfeeding up to two years or beyond. The guidance highlights the essential inclusion of diverse, nutrient-dense local foods—such as animal-source foods, fruits, and vegetables—while cautioning against sugar-sweetened beverages and nutrient-poor, ultra-processed complementary products.
Composition of Follow-Up Formula for Young Children Aged 12–36 Months – This is a review of global data on nutrient intakes of young children aged 12-36 months and on dietary intake performed by the Nutrition Association of Thailand (NAT) and the Early Nutrition Academy in 2015.
WHO Global Nutrition Targets 2030 – Defines extended target indicators through 2030 for stunting, wasting, childhood overweight, and exclusive breastfeeding. The policy briefs set operational frameworks to align national nutrition strategies and investments.
Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding – The Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding aims to revitalise efforts to promote, protect and support appropriate infant and young child feeding. It builds upon past initiatives, in particular the Innocenti Declaration and the Baby-friendly Hospital initiative. It addresses the needs of all children, including those living in difficult circumstances, such as infants of mothers living with HIV, low-birth-weight infants and infants in emergencies.
2026 Global Nutrition Report – An analysis of global progress toward nutrition targets during ongoing economic and climate challenges forms the foundation of this publication. Action frameworks across food and health systems are highlighted to support resilient nutrition delivery and safeguard early childhood diets.
UNICEF Malnutrition in Children – Compiles national, regional, and global data on child stunting, wasting, and overweight. These benchmarks track early childhood growth patterns and highlight disparities to evaluate progress toward international targets.
Nutrition and Health Status of Children in South East Asia – In 2009, the South East Asian Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS) were launched by FrieslandCampina and regional partners to assess the nutritional status of children aged six months to 12 years in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. By tracking critical health issues like stunting, obesity, and vitamin D deficiency through both the 2009 study and its successor, SEANUTS II, the initiative provides the essential data needed to guide public health policies and the development of targeted, fortified dairy products for the region.
Scaling Up Nutrition – Scaling Up Nutrition, or SUN, is a unique Movement founded on the principle that all people have a right to food and good nutrition. It unites people—from governments, civil society, the United Nations, donors, businesses and researchers—in a collective effort to improve nutrition.
1,000 Days – 1,000 Days is an advocacy hub that champions new investment and partnerships to improve nutrition during the critical 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and a child’s 2nd birthday as a way to achieve long-term progress in global health and development.
Driving commitment for nutrition within the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition: policy brief – The Nutrition Decade presents an unprecedented opportunity for accelerating country-led actions to end hunger, eliminate all forms of malnutrition, and ensure access to healthier and more sustainable diets for all people everywhere. Achieving on-the-ground results will require a strong and sustained commitment from many people and organisations working within countries. Such commitment does not come easily: it must be created, strengthened and sustained over time.
WHO Code and Subsequent WHA Resolutions – This foundational framework tracks the 1981 International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions established to protect and promote optimal infant feeding practices.