Window of Opportunity

A child’s future is shaped within the first 1,000 days – the critical period between conception and age two. During this window of opportunity, maternal and child nutrition has a measurable, lasting impact on growth, brain development, and immune function.

The impact of malnutrition during the first 1,000 days is largely irreversible, but the malnutrition itself is largely preventable.  With adequate nourishment in the earliest years of life, children have an opportunity to grow, learn, become productive adults and break the cycle of poverty.

CARE’s Window of Opportunity program focuses on the first 1,000 days, using proven, cost-effective interventions to:

• Increase access to food
• Improve the quality of health systems
• Promote appropriate changes in behavior at the individual and community level

For additional information, please contact alowe@care.org.

Read the Window of Opportunity’s 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012  annual reports.