Infant nutrition: Fundamental to child’s health from birth through adulthood

Amina Ibrahim (Kano, Nigeria) was desperate. Her six-month-old daughter Zainab was dying. The baby who had been plump and healthy at birth now weighed barely more than a newborn. Her ribs protruded. Her arms were stick-thin. Her eyes sunken. Her breathing labored.

“I was doing everything the formula company representatives told me,” Amina recalled, tears streaming down her face. “They came to the maternity ward after I gave birth. They gave me free samples. They told me formula was ‘scientifically advanced,’ ‘complete nutrition,’ ‘as good as breast milk.’ They made breastfeeding sound old-fashioned, even harmful. They said formula would make my baby smarter, stronger, healthier.”

But Amina lived in a one-room home without running water. She couldn’t afford enough formula, so she diluted it—making each tin last longer by adding extra water. The water came from a contaminated well. She couldn’t boil water regularly because cooking fuel was expensive. She couldn’t sterilize bottles properly. She couldn’t read the preparation instructions because she was illiterate.

“Zainab got sick constantly. Diarrhea. Vomiting. Infections. She stopped gaining weight. Then started losing weight. I kept buying more formula because the representatives told me she needed it. I spent everything—money for food, for rent, for medicine. But Zainab kept getting sicker. I didn’t understand why. I thought I was giving her the best,” Amina explained.

By the time Amina reached the hospital, Zainab had severe acute malnutrition and life-threatening dehydration. “The doctor asked if I was breastfeeding. I said no—I’d been told formula was better. The doctor became angry. She said, ‘Who told you that? That’s a lie designed to sell products. Your breast milk is free, safe, perfectly nutritious, and could have prevented all of this. Your baby is dying because you were deceived by formula marketing.'”

According to WHO, Infant nutrition is fundamental to a child’s continued health, from birth through adulthood. Correct feeding in the first three years of life is particularly important due to its role in lowering morbidity and mortality, reducing the risk of chronic disease throughout their life span, and promoting regular mental and physical development.

For more on child health, see our articles on child development and maternal nutrition at ObserverVoice.com.

Critical Nutrition Crisis

Although every infant and child has the right to good nutrition under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in many countries less than a fourth of infants have access to the required dietary diversity and feeding frequency. Inappropriate feeding practices contribute up to a third of all cases of child malnutrition. This is compounded by the proliferation of processed foods like infant formula and products rich in salt, free sugars and trans fats. This causes an increase in poor diets, obesity and a marked reduction in the number of mothers breastfeeding their babies. Breastfeeding has been shown to be of critical importance to a child’s development, including increased IQ, school performance and higher income in adult life.

Malnutrition affects over 2 billion people worldwide, and the burden is felt disproportionately by people in low- and middle-income countries. Infants and children are particularly vulnerable, with most deaths due to malnutrition occurring in children under 5 years of age. It is estimated that more than 144 million children under 5 are stunted (meaning too short for their age) and 47 million are wasted (too thin for their height). A further 38.3 million are overweight or obese. Undernutrition, which can occur alone or concurrently with obesity in what is called the double burden of malnutrition, is associated with 2.7 million child deaths each year, or 45% of all deaths in children.

Malnutrition in the early years of life can have long-lasting impacts on physical and mental development, which in turn affect a person’s educational performance and later employment opportunities. The extent of this issue is such that it has a sizable effect on economic markers in some countries and is considered a major global health problem. WHO provides Infant and young child feeding fact sheet, Malnutrition fact sheet, and Newborns: improving survival and well-being fact sheet.

Related topics include Breastfeeding, Child growth, Complementary feeding, Food fortification, Malnutrition, and Newborn health. For more on nutrition, see our article on global nutrition challenges at ObserverVoice.com.

WHO’s Evidence-Based Recommendations

Reducing global malnutrition begins with a proper diet during pregnancy and correct breastfeeding of infants. WHO recommends breastfeeding babies exclusively for 6 months, with safe and complementary foods being added slowly until age two or beyond. This means babies should receive only breastmilk from the mother or wet nurse with no other liquids or solids, including water unless required (such as oral rehydration solutions or vitamin and mineral supplements). With proper breastfeeding, it is estimated that over 820,000 children’s lives could be saved each year, with marked improvements in other development markers throughout the child’s life. Currently, only about 40% of infants are exclusively breastfed.

WHO continues to work with Member States and partners to promote proper infant nutrition and child nutrition, including breastfeeding information campaigns and efforts to prevent malnutrition at the local, national, and international levels. WHO works to implement the initiatives outlined in the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016–2025 in collaboration with Member States and partners. March 2025 WHO announced United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition extended to 2030. The goals of the campaign include improving the nutritional status of the population in all areas, particularly in early life, by preventing and treating malnutrition among pregnant women and young children.

WHO’s Nutrition and Food Safety team and Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing team coordinate efforts. WHO provides e-Library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA), Global database on the Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action (GIFNA), Global targets tracking tool, and Nutrition Landscape Information System (NLiS).

Recent Publications and Campaigns

October 2025 WHO published Global nutrition targets 2030: topical briefs on maternal, infant and young child nutrition recognizing that world is not on track to meet all 2025 global nutrition targets. October 2025 WHO published Global nutrition targets 2030: breastfeeding brief noting that exclusive breastfeeding is defined as practice of only giving infant breast-milk for first 6 months of life. October 2025 WHO published Global nutrition targets 2030: low birth weight brief defining low birth weight as weight at birth less than 2500g. September 2025 WHO published Infant and young child feeding: model chapter for textbooks for medical students and allied health professionals, 2nd ed. bringing together essential knowledge about infant and young child feeding.

July 2023 WHO reported Leadership Dialogue on Food Systems for People’s Nutrition and Health. July 2023 WHO and UNICEF released toolkit to help countries protect children from harmful food marketing. February 2023 Experts called for clampdowns on exploitative formula milk marketing in new Lancet series.

WHO provides Healthy diet: Keys to eating well Q&A, Breastfeeding Q&A, Questions and answers on COVID-19 and breastfeeding, and What is malnutrition? Q&A. WHO hosts Podcast Episode #51 – Breastfeeding & COVID-19.

World Health Assembly passed WHA71.9 on Infant and young child feeding, WHA69.9 on Ending inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children, and WHA65.6 on Maternal, infant and young child nutrition.

WHO established Expert Group for Updating Guidance on Indicators for the Assessment of Iodine Status, FAO/WHO nutrient requirements for children aged 0–4 years, UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, and UNICEF/WHO Technical Advisory Group on Wasting and Nutritional Oedema.

Transformation Through Evidence-Based Feeding

Zainab survived. The hospital provided emergency treatment for malnutrition and dehydration, then taught Amina how to re-establish breastfeeding. “I didn’t think it was possible. I’d stopped breastfeeding months earlier. But the lactation counselor showed me techniques to stimulate milk production again. Within days, my milk returned. Within weeks, Zainab transformed—gaining weight, becoming active, smiling again,” Amina said.

“The counselor explained what formula companies don’t tell you: breast milk is perfectly designed for babies. It contains antibodies that protect against infections. It’s always the right temperature, always sterile, always available. It adjusts its composition as the baby grows. It’s free. It requires no equipment, no preparation, no clean water. It protects babies from diarrhea, pneumonia, malnutrition—the biggest killers of children in Nigeria,” Amina continued.

“I learned that infant nutrition isn’t just about calories—it’s about immune protection, brain development, bonding, lifelong health. I learned that formula marketing deliberately targets vulnerable mothers like me with misleading claims designed to undermine breastfeeding confidence and create dependency on expensive products. I learned that this marketing kills babies—not through toxins in the formula, but through the conditions in which it’s prepared and used in poverty,” Amina explained.

“Zainab is now three years old, healthy and thriving. I breastfed her exclusively for six months, then continued breastfeeding while adding complementary foods until she was two. I’ve since had another baby—this time I breastfed from birth, ignored formula marketing, and my son has never been sick. I’m now a community breastfeeding counselor, teaching other mothers what I learned. We’re saving babies by promoting breastfeeding and protecting mothers from deceptive marketing,” Amina emphasized.

“WHO’s guidelines on infant nutrition provide the evidence-based roadmap: exclusive breastfeeding for six months, continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods until two years or beyond. These aren’t just recommendations—they’re literally life and death. Over 820,000 children die every year because they’re not breastfed properly. Those deaths are preventable. Every mother deserves accurate information, skilled support, and protection from marketing that undermines infant health for corporate profit. WHO’s leadership on infant nutrition is closing the gap between what science shows and what mothers practice—saving lives, one breastfed baby at a time.”

For more information, visit WHO’s infant nutrition topic page or explore related content at ObserverVoice.com.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. WHO Infant Nutrition Topic Page
2. WHO Breastfeeding Topic Page
3. UN Decade of Action on Nutrition
4. WHO Nutrition and Food Safety Team
5. e-Library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA)

Disclaimer: This article is an adaptation of publicly available information from WHO’s Infant nutrition
health topic page (WHO, Geneva. Licence: CC BYNC-SA 3.0 IGO). WHO is not responsible for the
content or accuracy of this adaptation. This content is for informational and educational purposes
only and does not constitute medical advice. ObserverVoice.com is a news and information platform
— not a healthcare provider.

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