Nutrition, Health and Learning

It is expected that by the year 2000 only one out of every twenty children born will fail to survive to age one. Thus, it seems urgent for us to begin refocusing our attention away from questions of survival. We must now address the quality of life that millions of once imperiled infants will have as children. To achieve such a "paradigm shift" in our agenda will once again require creating a union of policy, technology, investment, and consensus about the "post-survival" child's life. This monograph examines one critical dimension of that life: the opportunity to acquire - through schooling - skills, knowledge, attitudes, and habits that foster personal, community, and national development. Specifically, the present study reviews how health and nutrition factors may impinge on a child's ability to participate in or take full advantage of schooling. Within these parameters, the monograph seeks to lay a foundation for four pillars of progress: policy, technology, investment, and consensus. It is these four pillars that must undergird successful programs designed to meet the post survival child's needs. (Introduction, n.p)