To Lora Iannotti, MA, PhD, an expert on global maternal and child nutrition, the images of famine coming out of Gaza these days are heartbreaking and appalling. She knows more than most what the consequences of famine can be.
“I get very anxious when I see coverage of Gaza and starving babies,” Iannotti said. “The first 1,000 days of life are critical in nutrition, for survival, growth, and development. If you’re malnourished during that time, the consequences can be irreparable. A child may never recover the losses in brain development or reach their genetic potential for growth. In fact, the damage will be intergenerational.”
Growing up in the 1980s, Iannotti saw similar reports on the news about Ethiopia, which endured a terrible famine from 1983 to 1985. The harrowing images of starving people spurred in her a lifelong commitment to working on hunger and food insecurity. Now the Lauren and Lee Fixel Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, Iannotti focuses on dietary patterns, food production, access to nutritious food and sustainability around the world.