Since its inception, Alive & Thrive has generated evidence that drives the sustainable, impactful replication of policies and programs that improve the nutrition of mothers and children around the world. We're pleased to announce the launch of a new page on our website, Research & Learning, that highlights our extensive research.

The new page includes two new features: an interactive Evidence Map and regularly updated information about our current Implementation Research. 

The Evidence Map presents our peer-reviewed research on maternal, infant, young child and adolescent nutrition (MIYCAN) from the launch of Alive & Thrive in 2009 to present; new articles will be added to the map as they are published. The research covers a variety of MIYCAN topics and considers interventions from a variety of perspectives. 

HOW TO USE THE MAP: To use the evidence map, click on a bubble for a given set of topics; a box will pop-up showing a list of research articles for those criteria, including the lead author, year and journal title. Then, you can click on an article title to read its full text. Click on any part of the screen to close the bubble, or click on "Close" at the bottom of the list of articles.

Alive & Thrive research continues to help nutrition program designers and implementers understand what works. The Implementation Research section of our Research & Learning page provides details on current activities, which focus on five general topics: COVID-19, Maternal Nutrition, Urban Nutrition, Innovation, and Policy Advocacy.

Beyond its practical relevance and use, Alive & Thrive’s research contributes to the nuanced discussions in the nutrition community about the various factors that affect nutrition interventions. By making our data available to any researcher who wants it, the discussion is expanded and deepened.

Today’s launch is important because it brings together all of our research and organizes it meaningfully. The A&T initiative made significant investments in impact evaluations for MIYCAN, reflecting its commitment to strategic use of data. It was the first project of its kind to demonstrate and document improvements in breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and maternal nutrition through randomized controlled trial evaluations. 

Strategic use of data refers to the use of data throughout the entire program cycle to make decisions about program design, shape advocacy messages, and improve program implementation and management. While the evidence map focuses on the use of data in peer-reviewed research articles, the concept also includes the use of varied sources and types of data beyond scientific research, including nationally representative surveys, formative research, ethnographic studies, routine monitoring, operations research, and well-designed evaluations. 

Data-informed decisions result in better programs. When it comes to deciding what interventions to implement, governments, foundations and other donors have many options; they need to know, to put it simply, what works.