| Sumario: | Inclusion of prevention in the 2023 WHO guideline on wasting and nutritional oedema is a significant and timely addition, aligning with the global development goal of reducing current wasting prevalence from 6.6% to less than 3% by 2030.
We identified three key evidence gaps in wasting prevention:
Limited evidence on the effectiveness of wasting prevention interventions.
Poor understanding of the challenges in implementing wasting prevention programmes.
The absence of effective criteria for targeting wasting prevention interventions.
As for stunting prevention, wasting prevention programmes should adopt multisectoral strategies that address the root causes of the problem. These programmes should integrate interventions from health, food, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and social protection, and be rigorously evaluated to inform on what works, how and at what cost.
Embedding implementation research within effectiveness studies is crucial to identify and resolve operational bottlenecks that may hinder programme effectiveness. This is particularly important for complex, multisectoral programmes in resource-poor settings, where most of the wasting occurs.
Research is needed to develop and test simple criteria for targeting wasting prevention programmes, including household, individual, or seasonal or community factors associated with high wasting rates.
While continuing to target areas with a high burden of wasting, wasting prevention programmes should be tailored to address context-specific drivers of wasting. Programme design, including targeting criteria, should consider available resources and the capacity of health, food, water, sanitation and hygiene, and social protection systems to support wasting prevention.
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