Scientific articles
and research
This section brings together key scientific information on stunting. It offers updated studies, analyses and findings that contribute to a deeper understanding of its causes, the influence of the social determinants of health, the impact of stunting in countries, and prevention strategies.
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Children born to vulnerable mothers, especially indigenous children, experience systematically unfavorable physical growth compared to white children. Policies to protect indigenous children need to be strengthened to reduce the large and unacceptable ethnoracial health inequalities observed.
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Increased employment opportunities, per capita consumption, and financial inclusion are some of the important channels through which racial diversity is transmitted to generate the desired outcomes of stunting and underweight. In short, these results reveal that racial diversity could serve as an important catalyst for improving children's nutritional outcomes.
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The study analyzes the co-occurrence of stunting and overweight in children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa, this co-occurrence is known as the double burden of undernutrition and could occur at the national, family or individual level. There is a need for nutrition policies and programs to promote quality and nutritious diets to limit the risk of co-occurrence of stunting and overweight or obesity in early life.
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Breastfeeding has proven health benefits for both mothers and babies in high-income and low-income settings alike. However, less than 50% of infants worldwide are breastfed according to WHO recommendations.
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Globally, more than 1 million deaths each year are attributable to stunting. Our interactive maps of the predicted prevalence of stunting provide robust subnational information to help us identify communities where corrective action is needed.
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The study suggests that the nutritional status of children is significantly influenced by the level of education of mothers. Schools can be used as a platform to educate people about the nutritional value of foods by including relevant material in the curriculum.
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This study showed that children under five years of age exposed to contamination from hand pumps and tank water resources was the main factor contributing to stunting.
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Results suggest the need for strong and targeted policies specifically to improve the health of children and the socioeconomic status of women, especially those in rural areas, to close the gap between the poor and the non-poor. Comprehensive nutritional strategies and health education are needed in these regions to reduce the burden of child stunting. To achieve this, there is a need for sustainable multi-sectoral collaborations between government and other implementing partners and the involvement of community-based organizations that can be key in galvanizing communities to embrace health education and social change.
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Children are more vulnerable to infectious diseases, and different immune and endocrine systems seem to explain some of these disadvantages.
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The study aimed to explore the prevalence of stunting, anemia and breastfeeding in African countries; among the main findings were stunting was highest in Burundi (56%), Madagascar (50%) and Niger (44%). In addition, Burkina Faso (88%), Mali (82%), Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea (75% each) and Niger (73%) had the highest prevalence of anemia. Burundi (83%), Rwanda (81%) and Zambia (70%) had the highest exclusive breastfeeding.