New research suggests that malnutrition is responsible for 45 per cent of the global deaths of children under the age of five. Poor nutrition leads to the deaths of about 3.1 million under-fives annually, according to the report in the Lancet medical journal, and the first 1,000 days of life - from conception to two years - has lasting consequences for health. Prof Robert Black, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, tells BBC News, "The nutritional consequences of the months during pregnancy and the conditions during the first two years of life have very important consequences for mortality and for adult chronic disease. The early nutritional deficit results in developmental consequences for the individual and that has implications for their ability to succeed in school and ultimately in society to have the most productive jobs."
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