Maternal and Child Nutrition in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Comparative Review of India and Palestine With...

Maternal and child malnutrition is a serious public health problem in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and can cause cycles of poverty, disease, and developmental delays.

This comparative narrative review explores maternal and child nutrition indicators, determinants, interventions and policies in India and Palestine and identifies common lessons and transferable recommendations for LMICs.

A structured, non-exhaustive search of the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and WHO/UNICEF data repositories and some relevant grey literature published from 2010 to 2024 was used to obtain these narratives. Records were reviewed with background eligibility criteria and the evidence included was then thematically synthesised in a narrative format rather than systematically.

India has achieved significant improvement in addressing child stunting and maternal anaemia through key initiatives like POSHAN Abhiyaan, ICDS, and Anaemia Mukt Bharat. However, there are still significant geographic and socioeconomic gaps, and the double burden of malnutrition (undernutrition and overweight) is growing. Palestine is experiencing a unique but significant nutrition crisis, due to prolonged conflict, occupation, and economic turmoil: Around 19.6% of Palestinian children are stunted and IDA is common among pregnant women. Both countries face issues of micronutrient deficiencies, poor infant and young child feeding practices, and gender inequities which negatively impact maternal nutrition.

The two successful interventions have complementary lessons for each other: the convergence model in India, which is community based, and the integration of nutrition into primary healthcare in Palestine, which benefits from international partnerships. Multi-sectoral responses involving collaboration between the health, agriculture, education, and social protection sectors are needed, with a strong governmental commitment and monitoring systems.

This review highlights that nutrition-specific clinical interventions are essential but that sustainable nutrition improvements need to be implemented through policies that address the underlying structural, socioeconomic, and, in Palestine, the political determinants of malnutrition. The lessons learned from India and Palestine are broadly relevant to other LMICs in a similar context of nutrition transitions.