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Malnutrition is alarmingly prevalent, affecting one in three people worldwide. In this Article, we argue that a key reason the global community has been unsuccessful in combatting malnutrition is a lack of clarity outside the field of nutrition regarding the true meaning of "nutrition." In particular, this has limited the effectiveness of international human rights law as a mechanism for addressing malnutrition. In this interdisciplinary Article, which draws from both the legal and nutrition fields, we unpack the meaning of nutrition and demonstrate that a standalone right to adequate nutrition does indeed exist in international human rights law as a sum of other rights. This right to nutrition is, essentially, the sum of the human rights to food, health, education, water and sanitation, a healthy environment, information, political participation, and social security, along with rights ensuring adequate protection of and nondiscrimination against specific groups, such as women, children, and indigenous peoples. Having located the right to nutrition within international human rights law, we argue that it is important to package adequate nutrition as a standalone human right, and we propose the following definition: "The right to adequate nutrition is realized when all people have access to (i) a diverse, adequate, quality, and safe diet that meets their basic nutritional needs, (ii) the biological means, conditions, and resources needed to support a health status that effectively manages or is absent of illness and disease, and (iii) the underlying resources that influence the contextual factors that affect a person's nutrition and health status, such as water, sanitation, hygiene, information, education, skills, income, physical and social capital, economic and natural resources, social protection, and political participation." We then provide a diagnostic tool for using a human rights-based approach to address malnutrition, and conclude with practical recommendations for improving nutrition policy and governance in light of nutrition's status as a standalone human right.

Malnutrition is alarmingly prevalent, affecting one in three people worldwide. In this Article, we argue that a key reason the global community has been unsuccessful in combating malnutrition is a lack of clarity outside the field of nutrition regarding the true meaning of "nutrition." In particular, this has limited the effectiveness of international human rights law as a mechanism for addressing malnutrition. In this interdisciplinary Article, which draws from both the legal and nutrition fields, we unpack the meaning of nutrition and demonstrate that a standalone right to adequate nutrition does indeed exist in international human rights law as a sum of other rights. This right to nutrition is, essentially, the sum of the human rights to food, health, education, water and sanitation, a healthy environment, information, political participation, and social security, along with rights ensuring adequate protection of and non-discrimination against specific groups, such as women, children, and indigenous peoples. Having located the right to nutrition within international human rights law, we argue that it is important to package adequate nutrition as a standalone human right, and we propose the following definition: "The right to adequate nutrition is realized when all people have access to (i) a diverse, adequate, quality, and safe diet that meets their basic nutritional needs, (ii) the biological means, conditions, and resources needed to support a health status that effectively man-ages or is absent of illness and disease, and (iii) the underlying resources that influence the contextual factors that affect a person's nutrition and health status, such as water, sanitation, hygiene, information, education, skills, income, physical and social capital, economic and natural resources, social protection, and political participation." We then provide a diagnostic tool for using a human rights-based approach to address malnutrition, and conclude with practical recommendations for improving nutrition policy and governance in light of nutrition's status as a standalone human right.

1. The evolving nature of the human rights system and the development of the right to adequate food and nutrition concept / Anne C. Bellows, Maria Daniela Nunez Burbano de Lara, and Roseane do Socorro Goncalves Viana -- 2. Gender, nutrition, and the right to adequate food : introducing two structural disconnects and the human rights processes necessary to address them / Anne C. Bellows and Maria Daniela Nunez Burbano de Lara -- 3. Violence and women's participation in the right to adequate food and nutrition / Anne C. Bellows and Anna Jenderedjian -- 4. Maternal, infant, and young child feeding : intertwined subjectivities and corporate accountability / Lida Lhotska, Veronika Scherbaum, and Anne C. Bellows -- 5. Sustainable food systems, gender, and participation : foregrounding women in the context of the right to adequate food and nutrition / Stefanie Lemke and Anne C. Bellows -- 6. Closing protection gaps through a more comprehensive conceptual framework for the human right to adequate food and nutrition / Flavio L.S. Valente, Ana Maria Suarez Franco, and R. Denisse Cordova Montes.

Minority populations are more subject to chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and various cancers due to their lack of access to quality food and knowledge of adequate nutrition. Theories such as the Health Belief Model and the Social Cognitive Theory have been used throughout various studies to understand why minority populations are more likely to develop chronic diseases stemmed from poor nutrition. Components such as socioeconomic status, education, median household income, ethnicity, interpersonal and intrapersonal factors were all analyzed using the aforementioned theories to understand why minorities are disproportionately affected in regard to receiving adequate nutrition and prevention of chronic diseases. Various government policies and programs have been created to aid minority families in purchasing quality food and to promote more measures against chronic diseases. Further research in understanding why minority populations are disproportionately affected may include systemic and environmental racism, including administration of preventive healthcare resources.

UNHCR's primary objective is to safeguard the rights & well-being of refugees & other persons of concern. Ensuring adequate nutrition & eliminating malnutrition form an essential part of protection, in particular for refugee children & refugee women. This paper presents UNHCR's strategy for ensuring adequate nutrition for persons of concern, notably refugee children & refugee women. It outlines the main challenges UNHCR faces in addressing nutrition issues & provides an update on current efforts to ensure adequate levels of nutrition for refugees & other persons of concern to the Office, using a specific set of performance indicators (both nutrition & public health related). These indicators are in accordance with UNHCR's Global Strategic Objectives for 2007-2009, & as set out in the 2nd edition of the Practical Guide to the Systematic Use of Standards & Indicators in UNHCR Operations. The paper also highlights UNHCR's partnerships with sister agencies in order to jointly address the nutrition situation. Finally, it provides some specific recommendations for follow-up, as outlined in the attached draft decision (Annex I). The term malnutrition as used in this paper refers to the various forms of malnutrition: notably global acute malnutrition (GAM), i.e. wasting plus nutritional oedema, expressed in Z-scores;2 chronic malnutrition (stunting); & micronutrient deficiencies (hidden hunger). Figures, Appendixes. Adapted from the source document.

Adequate nutrition lies at the heart of the fight against hunger and poverty (Sanchez et al. 2005). Great strides in reducing hunger through increases in agricultural productivity have been made worldwide; however, more than 900 million of people remain chronically underfed, i.e. do not have access to continuously meet dietary requirements (FAO 2008). It has long been known that malnutrition undermines economic growth and perpetuates poverty (World Bank 2006). Healthy individuals contribute to higher individual and country productivity, lower health care costs, and greater economic output by improving physical work capacity, cognitive development, school performance, and health (Grosse and Roy 2008). Unrelenting malnutrition is contributing not only to widespread failure to halve poverty and hunger, the first of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG), but if not appropriately eradicated, many of the other MDGs such as reducing maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, universal education, and gender equity will be difficult to achieve (World Bank 2006). Yet the international community and most governments in developing countries continue to struggle in tackling malnutrition in all its complexity.

A research paper on experiences of increasing food access and nutrition in Zimbabwe, presented at the Fourth Annual Conference on Food Security In Southern Africa, 31 October- 3 November, 1988. ; Factors which determine individual household access to food and adequate nutrition include the agro-ecological, economic, political, socio-cultural, and health factors; as well as natural and man-made disasters. At independence in 1980, the majority of Zimbabweans in both rural and urban areas had limited access to food. The war of liberation had disrupted food production and marketing activities. The land tenure system had allocated land to the rural peasant on the least productive soils. In addition, the peasant farmer had limited access to credit to improve crop yield and ensure adequate food security throughout the year. Access to agricultural extension services was also limited. Rural incomes were insufficient to purchase food, particularly where remittances from wage earners in the family were unavailable. In addition, the retail prices of food in the rural areas are much higher. Hence, large segments of the rural population had limited purchasing power to meet basic needs.