Through a grant provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the New York Academy of Sciences aims to improve the usability of tools for nutrition policymaking and increase their adoption in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A nutritional modeling consortium was established. In April 2017, the Institute partnered with the Micronutrient Forum to host a two-day technical consultation to explore seven tools designed to help decision makers in LMICs develop and streamline nutrition programs and interventions. did.
These tools are selected based on their ability to elaborate nutrition policy scenarios adapted to national priorities and contexts, whether using mathematical optimization routines or other evidence-based analytical approaches. I did. The services these tools provide range from advocacy to allocation efficiency to budget planning. The conference highlighted the advanced capabilities of these tools and presented several examples of their successful use supporting their potential utility in nutrition policy making.
What is nutritional modeling?
Nutritional modeling refers to computer-assisted optimization routines that attempt to select the optimal solution with respect to nutritional goals from a set of available policy or program alternatives. Some of the consortium’s tools follow mathematical optimization algorithms, some use spreadsheet formulas, and some use qualitative methods to drill down into nutritional data. Regardless of design, they all share the objective of improving the use of available knowledge and data when designing nutrition policies and programs.
The mission of the Nutritional Modeling Consortium is to:
- Increase end-user input into the specification of the services provided by these tools.
- Help end users better understand how these tools can address their nutritional programming needs.
- Improve the collective utility and effectiveness of modeling tools through collaborative efforts by nutritional modelers to enhance technical interoperability and improve ease of use for end users.
How the consortium works
The Consortium of Nutrition Modelers aims to improve the use of the evidence base in policy and program decision-making through the use of mathematical modeling of nutrition activities. It is led by a scientific organizing committee comprised of nutritional modelers and end users. The Secretariat is responsible for connecting the SOC to the modeling community and end users, coordinating the work of the consortium, and organizing and convening consortium meetings.
inquiry
For more information about the Nutrition Modeling Consortium, please contact nutrition@nyas.org.
