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Is Malnutrition Declining? An Analysis Of Changes In Levels Of Childhood Malnutrition Since 1980, Mercedes De Onis, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Monika Blo¨ Ssner

Faculty Publications

Nutritional status is the best global indicator of well-being in children. Although many surveys of children have been conducted since the 1970s, lack of comparability between them has made it difficult to monitor trends in child malnutrition.

Cross-sectional data from 241 nationally representative surveys were analysed in a standard way to produce comparable results of low height-for-age (stunting). Multilevel modelling was applied to estimate regional and global trends from 1980 to 2005.

The prevalence of stunting has fallen in developing countries from 47% in 1980 to 33% in 2000 (i.e. by 40 million), although progress has been uneven according to …