Abstract for: Advancing towards double-duty policies: intergenerational and life-course transmission of the double burden of malnutrition

Overnutrition and undernutrition often co-exist within populations, households, and individuals, creating a double burden of malnutrition (DBM). To tackle the DBM, there is a need for double-duty policies that simultaneously target multiple forms of malnutrition. System dynamics is an appropriate tool to inform double-duty policies, as it can consider unintended side-effects occurring through feedback loops between overnutrition and undernutrition over time. This paper explores this feedback by describing a conceptual simulation model of intergenerational and life-course transmission of overnutrition and undernutrition through maternal and neonatal characteristics in Peru. The model is based on standard formulations of population dynamics and relevant epidemiological evidence on dynamics of overnutrition and undernutrition, informed by relevant literature and observational data of children and adults in Peru. The model uses aging chains and co-flow structures and is characterised by three reinforcing feedback loops that represent the intergenerational transmission of the overall, overweight, and stunted populations in Peru. This model will be used as a basis for further elaboration through group model building to inform the transmission of overweight, stunting and their interactions through dietary and socioeconomic drivers. By understanding these processes, we can inform the development and impact of double-duty policies that effectively address the DBM.