The United States has shown courageous leadership over the last decade on global health. Earlier this year, Congress once again voted to protect the budget for those critical investments that we make to save lives, prevent the transmission of diseases and end preventable child deaths. During my time in Congress, we fought hard for life-saving global health programs. We were able to work together with both Democrat and Republican presidents to launch and implement historic health initiatives in priority areas such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, vaccines, and clean water. These programs have saved millions of lives, and proven that health is the best currency for peace. But even as funding for global health soared, foundational programs promoting maternal and child nutrition were largely overlooked. Yet the need for greater leadership and investments in nutrition could not be more clear. Across the world today, 162 million children—1 in 4 children under 5 years of age—are physically and developmentally stunted, and 80 percent of those live in just 14 countries. The combination of physical limitations and reduced cognitive development directly linked to poor nutrition sentences these children to lives of unfulfilled potential, and it creates a severe drain on their communities and countries. A 2013 report from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that the social and economic costs of malnutrition are unconscionably high, amounting to as much as $US3.5 trillion per year or $US500 per person globally.

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