Does global goal setting matter for nutrition and health?

Abstract

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mark an important moment for the world to improve human capital through nutrition and health goal setting. While the Millennium Development Goals contributed to the reduction in the number of undernourished people, the agenda remains unfinished. We are at a crucial crossroads with malnutrition burdens and hunger not decreasing as fast as they should and sometimes increasing. There is a moral imperative to act on the SDGs for nutrition, and health systems and professionals working in those systems have significant roles to play in fulfilling the objectives set out by the goals—that is, in ensuring that all citizens have a chance to achieve their own development.