South Asia carries the highest burden of childhood undernutrition in the world with close to 50% of the world's undernourished children living in this region ( ). A combination of complex biological, behavioural and social factors underpins the high burden of undernutrition in this region. Critical factors related to child undernutrition in South Asia include poor maternal nutrition and early childbearing, low status of women, high levels of poverty and food insecurity, social inequity, a high burden of infections and poor care and feeding practices. Poor infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices are recognized as a significant contributor to undernutrition globally ( ; ; ), and interventions to improve breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices are among the globally recommended core package of direct nutrition interventions ( ; ).
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