Cost of Malnutrition in Lao PDR

The economic impact of child undernutrition in Lao PDR is significant with far-reaching effects on health, education attainment and productivity. The Cost of Malnutrition study uses an economic model to estimate this cost across three domains – health, education and productivity. It captures both the costs experienced today due to past undernutrition (retrospective costs), and the costs expected to arise in the future due to undernutrition in children today (prospective costs). The study argues that undernutrition imposes a substantial cost – but that this cost is avoidable, if timely and effective actions are taken: positioning nutrition as an investment instead of a cost, building an investment case to mobilise financing, strengthening multisectoral implementation, tackling the double burden of malnutrition, and strengthening data systems for decision making.