Malnutrition and Maternal Health and Childhood Outcomes

Access to healthy food for pregnant and nursing women is vital for their health and development. However, various barriers stop this from being a reality. Maternal malnutrition is a major public health concern that can lead to serious diseases, complications, and death. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (202?) estimated that more than 1 billion adolescent girls and women worldwide suffer from malnutrition (p. ?). Yet, despite the United Nations proposal to end all forms of malnutrition and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls and pregnant women by 2030 (cite), progress has been slow. This progress has been almost entirely destroyed in Sudan, where the war that erupted in 2023 has shortened food supplies, increased inflation, and destroyed farming, all factors that create barriers to healthy food. The conflict has destroyed all forms of essential services, public infrastructure, and debilitated the already weak health care system. Women and children are dying at alarming rates from preventable diseases, and the collapse of the health system has worsened the malnutrition crisis, leading to millions of Sudanese depending on humanitarian aid. Pregnant women, and children are a very vulnerable group at risk of serious complications and death. Women require greater nutrition than men due to their heightened vulnerability during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

In Sudan, CARE (2025) found that around 4.5 million children under the age of five and pregnant women with severe malnutrition face a heightened threat of death due to lack of healthcare services (p. ). MSF (2024) reported that from January to August 2024 in South Darfur, there were 46 maternal deaths in Nyala Teaching and Kas Rural hospitals, and 78% of these deaths occurred in the first 24 hours following admission (para. ). This situation has been particularly harrowing in North Darfur, where 40,000 children were admitted for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) treatment in the first five months of the year, which has doubled from 2024 (cite). Childhood malnutrition has long-lasting irreversible consequences such as the morbidities and mortalities associated with stunting and a loss of growth and cognitive functions (Soliman et al. 2021, p. 9). Additionally, Xu et al. (2024) reported that a combination of factors, such as backward economic development, suboptimal diets, and extreme climatic environments, which are evident and increasing in Sudan, prevents pregnant women from obtaining adequate, high-quality nutrients (p. ). Compounded with the war, this combination of factors creates a cycle of malnutrition, and deteriorating health conditions that span generations.

There are numerous essential nutrients that are required during pregnancy. Xu et al. (2024) found that the burden of maternal hemorrhage accounted for the highest proportion of the 10 maternal diseases attributable to malnutrition (p. #). Although the World Health Organization has standards for prenatal care (cite), there are no comprehensive guidelines that detail the dietary requirements of women through their pregnancy. It is clear that more has to be done at an organizational and international level to set specific guidelines, and enforce them so that the dietary needs of every mother is met.

Written by Lurit Loro.