title: World Perspective on the Epidemiology of Stunting between 1990 and 2015 .
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stunting is the most prevalent form of child undernutrition with current worldwide estimates at 156 million. The majority of these children reside in low- and middle-income countries. When stunting prevails to adulthood, optimal growth potential and economic productivity are minimized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 2015 there were 98.5 million fewer stunted children under 5 years of age than in 1990. In East Asia and Pacific and South Asia, the stunting prevalence decreased by 24.8 and 25%, respectively. Minimal declines were observed in Latin America and the Caribbean at 12.6%, in the Middle East and North Africa at 12.9%, and in sub-Saharan Africa at 13.4%. But because large populations of children under 5 years of age are distributed disproportionately, decreases in prevalence do not translate to fewer numbers of stunted children globally. In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of stunted children increased by 12.4 million between 1990 and 2015.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adult height is dependent on nutrition-specific or nutrition-sensitive factors. Nutrition-specific factors can be targeted according to their impact at critical points of development and therefore offer multiple windows of opportunity for interventions. To date, many interventions focus on the first 1,000 days, but opportunities may extend into later childhood and adolescence. .
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Child Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Campisi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Child Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Arlin Mary
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cherian
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Child Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Zulfiqar A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Bhutta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D014943:Global Health / Q000639:trends; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: Childhood; Height ; Stunting; Trends