0124-GHN - January 2024

Improving Maternal and Child Nutrition Worldwide

Siblings Shail, four, and Jualdi, two, from the Dominican Republic, share a unique bond. Even in a crowd, they instinctually gravitate back to each other. Their mother, Claribel, is committed to keeping the inseparable duo healthy. She started by taking Vitamin Angels’ prenatal vitamins and minerals during her pregnancies. Since the children were old enough, she has also taken the pair to receive Vitamin Angels’ vitamin A and deworming treatments to support their growth and development in early childhood. Claribel aspires to set a good example for her children, much like her mother did. She dreams that Shail and Jualdi will overcome obstacles, excel in their studies, and set a positive example for others.

Receiving essential nutrients from the very start is the catalyst to fueling a healthy future for both Shail and Jualdi. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for millions of children around the world. Today, more than three billion people worldwide— largely in low-resource settings—experience some form of malnutrition. Malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished children, creating an intergenerational cycle that impacts health and economic well-being that is felt across communities and generations.

Vitamin Angels is working to halt this intergenerational cycle by delivering evidence-based nutrition solutions, including vitamin A for young children to prevent blindness and improve immune function, deworming treatment to enable the uptake of critical nutrients, and prenatal vitamins and minerals to improve birth outcomes for mother and baby. These interventions are a powerful way to support healthy pregnancies, reduce infant and maternal mortality, and protect those under five against debilitating childhood infections.

By helping to extend these interventions to the people who are most at-risk, Vitamin Angels helps entire communities grow stronger for generations to come. When women and children have access to good nutrition, families and communities do better, gaps in educational attainment shrink, incomes grow, and new opportunities emerge.

Vitamin Angels believes in a world where every mother has a healthy pregnancy, and every child gets a chance at a healthy life. This year, we will reach over 71 million underserved pregnant women and children with essential vitamins and minerals by working in partnership with over 1,200 local organizations in about 65 countries, including the U.S. Despite our noteworthy accomplishments, our work is far from done. Our commitment to addressing malnutrition is unwavering, and we aim to double our impact to reach 140 million mothers and children annually by 2033. By improving the health of pregnant women and young children during their most critical years, we all can help build a healthier, more equitable world.

When it comes to financial transparency, Vitamin Angels is in the top three percent of charities that have received a 100 percent four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the nation’s premier charity evaluator, demonstrating our commitment to the highest level of financial accountability. With this rating, donors can be confident that their support has a direct impact on the health of millions of underserved pregnant women and children worldwide.

Make a tax-deductible donation to Vitamin Angels today at vitaminangels.org/donate