Madagascar fights the subtler side of hunger: chronic malnutrition

Child mortality rates are decreasing in Afghanistan due to more readily available basic health care, more effective vaccinations, and locally-trained volunteer health workers.

The best way to lose weight is to join a small group. This article looks at the case study of Saddleback Church in southern California that mixed faith and peer support to help congregates lose weight, including the pastor. Surveys found that 72% of participants lost weight as a result of the program.

We know how to prevent diabetes - but the U.S, medical system, with its twisted priorities, doesn’t cover prevention. A new program at the YMCA aims to build structured, effective prevention measures.

It’s no secret that, although progress has been made, school lunches need help to become more nutritious and sustainable. School officials in San Francisco are partnering with researchers from UC Berkeley's School of Public Health to better school lunch programs and, ultimately, curb child obesity.

The lack of access to healthy food has always been a problem for the financially unstable. Food stamps can now be used to buy fresh produce at farmers markets, but greater success could be achieved by getting grocery stores involved.

Half of U.S. farm workers are Hispanic, but few make it to leadership positions. A historically white non-profit, FFA, is creating equal education programs in California to increase leadership opportunities for minorities in agriculture.

A nutrient powder can save anemic children, but the people who could benefit are distrustful. Having local mothers distribute the supplement was successful in Bangladesh.

The life-saving vitamin folic acid is added to flour in the United States, but Hispanics tend to eat little flour. Adding folic acid to corn flour would reduce birth defects in Hispanic women in the U.S.

While weight loss can be challenging to maintain, different structures are being created to help. Certain support groups, financial incentives, and tough love are proving to be effective.

Programs to get fresh produce carts to areas with no access to healthy food work best when government and determined entrepreneurs team up. Success from this model is evident in New York City, where the city has incentivized the selling of fruits and vegetables by street vendors in areas that are in the most need of the produce.