Nutrition Interventions in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST)

J Nutr. 2017 Nov;147(11):2132S-2140S. doi: 10.3945/jn.116.243766. Epub 2017 Sep 13.

Abstract

The Lives Saved Tool (LiST) was initially developed in 2003 to estimate the impact of increasing coverage of efficacious interventions on under-5 mortality. Over time, the model has been expanded to include more outcomes (neonatal mortality, maternal mortality, stillbirths) and interventions. The model has also added risk factors, such as stunting and wasting, and over time has attempted to capture a full range of nutrition and nutrition-related interventions (e.g., antenatal supplementation, breastfeeding promotion, child supplemental feeding, acute malnutrition treatment), practices (e.g., age-appropriate breastfeeding), and outcomes (e.g., stunting, wasting, birth outcomes, maternal anemia). This article reviews the overall nutrition-related structure, assumptions, and outputs that are currently available in LiST. This review focuses on the new assumptions and structure that have been added to the model as part of the current effort to expand and improve the nutrition modeling capability of LiST. It presents the full set of linkages in the model that relate to nutrition outcomes, as well as the research literature used to support those linkages.

Keywords: Lives Saved Tool; WHA Nutrition Targets; modeling; nutrition; stunting.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / diet therapy
  • Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / prevention & control
  • Breast Feeding
  • Child
  • Child Mortality*
  • Family Planning Services
  • Female
  • Growth Disorders / diet therapy
  • Growth Disorders / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant Mortality
  • Maternal Mortality
  • Meta-Analysis as Topic
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Mothers
  • Nutrition Therapy / methods*
  • Nutritional Physiological Phenomena*
  • Nutritional Status
  • Stillbirth
  • Wasting Syndrome / diet therapy
  • Wasting Syndrome / prevention & control