{"id": 1210239, "name": "Long-run childhood stunting rates", "unit": "%", "createdAt": "2026-03-31T14:11:04.000Z", "updatedAt": "2026-03-31T14:11:04.000Z", "coverage": "", "timespan": "1895-2015", "datasetId": 7784, "shortUnit": "%", "columnOrder": 0, "shortName": "stunting_rate", "catalogPath": "grapher/papers/2026-03-27/long_run_stunting/long_run_stunting#stunting_rate", "descriptionShort": "Share of children between 2 and 10 years old who are [stunted](#dod:stunting), so shorter than would be expected for their age. Stunting is a sign of long-term malnutrition or poor health in early childhood.", "type": "float", "datasetName": "Worldwide Historical Child Stunting Dataset", "updatePeriodDays": 0, "datasetVersion": "2026-03-27", "nonRedistributable": false, "display": {"unit": "%", "shortUnit": "%", "tolerance": 10, "roundingMode": "significantFigures", "numSignificantFigures": 2}, "schemaVersion": 2, "processingLevel": "minor", "presentation": {"topicTagsLinks": ["Child & Infant Mortality", "Hunger & Undernourishment"]}, "descriptionKey": ["Stunting rates are an important indicator of child health and nutrition. High rates can reflect poor nutrition and frequent exposure to disease or illness, which increase a child\u2019s nutrient requirements and affect their ability to retain nutrients. This can hinder physical and cognitive development, and can persist throughout someone\u2019s life.", "Children are considered stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) [child growth standards](https://www.who.int/tools/child-growth-standards/standards).", "This data comes from [an article by Scheider et al. (2026)](https://gh.bmj.com/content/11/2/e018607) that compiles historical studies and the UN Joint Malnutrition Estimates (JME) database to provide a long-term perspective on child stunting rates.", "Schneider et al. compile stunting rates among children between 2 and 10 years old. This data is therefore not directly comparable to more recent datasets (such as the UN JME database) which provide stunting rates for children under 5 years old.", "This chart includes only data points from high-quality studies e.g. studies that are nationally representative and have larger sample sizes. The full dataset includes additional data points and is available via the original paper [here](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18262234)", "The year shown is the birth decade of the children in each study, plotted at the midpoint of that decade. So the 1955 data point includes children born between 1950 and 1959."], "dimensions": {"years": {"values": [{"id": 1995}, {"id": 2005}, {"id": 2015}, {"id": 1985}, {"id": 1955}, {"id": 1965}, {"id": 1895}, {"id": 1905}, {"id": 1945}, {"id": 1975}, {"id": 1915}, {"id": 1935}, {"id": 1925}]}, "entities": {"values": [{"id": 15, "name": "Afghanistan", "code": "AFG"}, {"id": 16, "name": "Albania", "code": "ALB"}, {"id": 17, "name": "Algeria", "code": "DZA"}, {"id": 19, "name": "Angola", "code": "AGO"}, {"id": 21, "name": "Argentina", "code": "ARG"}, {"id": 22, "name": "Armenia", "code": "ARM"}, {"id": 219, "name": "Aruba", "code": "ABW"}, {"id": 23, "name": "Australia", "code": "AUS"}, {"id": 24, "name": "Austria", "code": "AUT"}, {"id": 25, "name": "Azerbaijan", "code": "AZE"}, {"id": 27, "name": "Bahrain", "code": "BHR"}, {"id": 28, "name": "Bangladesh", "code": "BGD"}, {"id": 29, "name": "Barbados", "code": "BRB"}, {"id": 30, "name": "Belarus", "code": "BLR"}, {"id": 4, "name": "Belgium", "code": "BEL"}, {"id": 31, "name": "Belize", "code": "BLZ"}, {"id": 32, "name": "Benin", "code": "BEN"}, {"id": 194, "name": "Bermuda", "code": "BMU"}, {"id": 33, "name": "Bhutan", "code": "BTN"}, {"id": 34, "name": "Bolivia", "code": "BOL"}, {"id": 35, "name": "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "code": "BIH"}, {"id": 36, "name": "Botswana", "code": "BWA"}, {"id": 37, "name": "Brazil", "code": "BRA"}, {"id": 38, "name": "Brunei", "code": "BRN"}, {"id": 39, "name": "Bulgaria", "code": "BGR"}, {"id": 40, "name": "Burkina Faso", "code": "BFA"}, {"id": 41, "name": "Burundi", "code": "BDI"}, {"id": 42, "name": "Cambodia", "code": "KHM"}, {"id": 43, "name": "Cameroon", "code": "CMR"}, {"id": 44, "name": "Canada", "code": "CAN"}, {"id": 45, "name": "Cape Verde", "code": "CPV"}, {"id": 174, "name": "Central African Republic", "code": "CAF"}, {"id": 173, "name": "Chad", "code": "TCD"}, {"id": 172, "name": "Chile", "code": "CHL"}, {"id": 171, "name": "China", "code": "CHN"}, {"id": 170, "name": "Colombia", "code": "COL"}, {"id": 169, "name": "Comoros", "code": "COM"}, {"id": 168, "name": "Congo", "code": "COG"}, {"id": 166, "name": "Costa Rica", "code": "CRI"}, {"id": 143, "name": "Cote d'Ivoire", "code": "CIV"}, {"id": 164, "name": "Cuba", "code": "CUB"}, {"id": 163, "name": "Cyprus", "code": "CYP"}, {"id": 162, "name": "Czechia", "code": "CZE"}, {"id": 167, "name": "Democratic Republic of Congo", "code": "COD"}, {"id": 161, "name": "Denmark", "code": "DNK"}, {"id": 154, "name": "Djibouti", "code": "DJI"}, {"id": 160, "name": "Dominican Republic", "code": "DOM"}, {"id": 225, "name": "East Timor", "code": "TLS"}, {"id": 201, "name": "Ecuador", "code": "ECU"}, {"id": 65, "name": "Egypt", "code": "EGY"}, {"id": 259, "name": "El Salvador", "code": "SLV"}, {"id": 159, "name": "Equatorial Guinea", "code": "GNQ"}, {"id": 157, "name": "Eritrea", "code": "ERI"}, {"id": 156, "name": "Estonia", "code": "EST"}, {"id": 78, "name": "Eswatini", "code": "SWZ"}, {"id": 158, "name": "Ethiopia", "code": "ETH"}, {"id": 202, "name": "Fiji", "code": "FJI"}, {"id": 155, "name": "Finland", "code": "FIN"}, {"id": 3, "name": "France", "code": "FRA"}, {"id": 153, "name": "Gabon", "code": "GAB"}, {"id": 151, "name": "Gambia", "code": "GMB"}, {"id": 152, "name": "Georgia", "code": "GEO"}, {"id": 6, "name": "Germany", "code": "DEU"}, {"id": 150, "name": "Ghana", "code": "GHA"}, {"id": 149, "name": "Greece", "code": "GRC"}, {"id": 254, "name": "Guam", "code": "GUM"}, {"id": 148, "name": "Guatemala", "code": "GTM"}, {"id": 147, "name": "Guinea", "code": "GIN"}, {"id": 94, "name": "Guinea-Bissau", "code": "GNB"}, {"id": 146, "name": "Guyana", "code": "GUY"}, {"id": 145, "name": "Haiti", "code": "HTI"}, {"id": 139, "name": "Honduras", "code": "HND"}, {"id": 144, "name": "Hong Kong", "code": "HKG"}, {"id": 138, "name": "Hungary", "code": "HUN"}, {"id": 137, "name": "India", "code": "IND"}, {"id": 136, "name": "Indonesia", "code": "IDN"}, {"id": 135, "name": "Iran", "code": "IRN"}, {"id": 134, "name": "Iraq", "code": "IRQ"}, {"id": 2, "name": "Ireland", "code": "IRL"}, {"id": 8, "name": "Italy", "code": "ITA"}, {"id": 132, "name": "Jamaica", "code": "JAM"}, {"id": 14, "name": "Japan", "code": "JPN"}, {"id": 130, "name": "Jordan", "code": "JOR"}, {"id": 131, "name": "Kazakhstan", "code": "KAZ"}, {"id": 129, "name": "Kenya", "code": "KEN"}, {"id": 204, "name": "Kiribati", "code": "KIR"}, {"id": 208, "name": "Kuwait", "code": "KWT"}, {"id": 126, "name": "Kyrgyzstan", "code": "KGZ"}, {"id": 125, "name": "Laos", "code": "LAO"}, {"id": 122, "name": "Latvia", "code": "LVA"}, {"id": 124, "name": "Lebanon", "code": "LBN"}, {"id": 123, "name": "Lesotho", "code": "LSO"}, {"id": 121, "name": "Liberia", "code": "LBR"}, {"id": 120, "name": "Libya", "code": "LBY"}, {"id": 119, "name": "Lithuania", "code": "LTU"}, {"id": 118, "name": "Madagascar", "code": "MDG"}, {"id": 117, "name": "Malawi", "code": "MWI"}, {"id": 116, "name": "Malaysia", "code": "MYS"}, {"id": 211, "name": "Maldives", "code": "MDV"}, {"id": 115, "name": "Mali", "code": "MLI"}, {"id": 223, "name": "Marshall Islands", "code": "MHL"}, {"id": 114, "name": "Mauritania", "code": "MRT"}, {"id": 213, "name": "Mauritius", "code": "MUS"}, {"id": 113, "name": "Mexico", "code": "MEX"}, {"id": 111, "name": "Moldova", "code": "MDA"}, {"id": 112, "name": "Mongolia", "code": "MNG"}, {"id": 215, "name": "Montenegro", "code": "MNE"}, {"id": 110, "name": "Morocco", "code": "MAR"}, {"id": 109, "name": "Mozambique", "code": "MOZ"}, {"id": 142, "name": "Myanmar", "code": "MMR"}, {"id": 108, "name": "Namibia", "code": "NAM"}, {"id": 218, "name": "Nauru", "code": "NRU"}, {"id": 107, "name": "Nepal", "code": "NPL"}, {"id": 5, "name": "Netherlands", "code": "NLD"}, {"id": 106, "name": "New Zealand", "code": "NZL"}, {"id": 105, "name": "Nicaragua", "code": "NIC"}, {"id": 104, "name": "Niger", "code": "NER"}, {"id": 103, "name": "Nigeria", "code": "NGA"}, {"id": 128, "name": "North Korea", "code": "PRK"}, {"id": 66, "name": "North Macedonia", "code": "MKD"}, {"id": 102, "name": "Norway", "code": "NOR"}, {"id": 217, "name": "Oman", "code": "OMN"}, {"id": 101, "name": "Pakistan", "code": "PAK"}, {"id": 140, "name": "Palestine", "code": "PSE"}, {"id": 100, "name": "Panama", "code": "PAN"}, {"id": 99, "name": "Papua New Guinea", "code": "PNG"}, {"id": 98, "name": "Paraguay", "code": "PRY"}, {"id": 97, "name": "Peru", "code": "PER"}, {"id": 96, "name": "Philippines", "code": "PHL"}, {"id": 11, "name": "Poland", "code": "POL"}, {"id": 95, "name": "Portugal", "code": "PRT"}, {"id": 93, "name": "Puerto Rico", "code": "PRI"}, {"id": 226, "name": "Qatar", "code": "QAT"}, {"id": 92, "name": "Romania", "code": "ROU"}, {"id": 91, "name": "Rwanda", "code": "RWA"}, {"id": 227, "name": "Saint Kitts and Nevis", "code": "KNA"}, {"id": 229, "name": "Saint Lucia", "code": "LCA"}, {"id": 230, "name": "Saint Vincent and the Grenadines", "code": "VCT"}, {"id": 239, "name": "Samoa", "code": "WSM"}, {"id": 232, "name": "Sao Tome and Principe", "code": "STP"}, {"id": 90, "name": "Saudi Arabia", "code": "SAU"}, {"id": 89, "name": "Senegal", "code": "SEN"}, {"id": 88, "name": "Serbia", "code": "SRB"}, {"id": 233, "name": "Seychelles", "code": "SYC"}, {"id": 87, "name": "Sierra Leone", "code": "SLE"}, {"id": 86, "name": "Singapore", "code": "SGP"}, {"id": 85, "name": "Slovakia", "code": "SVK"}, {"id": 195, "name": "Solomon Islands", "code": "SLB"}, {"id": 82, "name": "Somalia", "code": "SOM"}, {"id": 81, "name": "South Africa", "code": "ZAF"}, {"id": 127, "name": "South Korea", "code": "KOR"}, {"id": 258, "name": "South Sudan", "code": "SSD"}, {"id": 9, "name": "Spain", "code": "ESP"}, {"id": 141, "name": "Sri Lanka", "code": "LKA"}, {"id": 79, "name": "Sudan", "code": "SDN"}, {"id": 234, "name": "Suriname", "code": "SUR"}, {"id": 10, "name": "Sweden", "code": "SWE"}, {"id": 77, "name": "Syria", "code": "SYR"}, {"id": 198, "name": "Taiwan", "code": "TWN"}, {"id": 76, "name": "Tajikistan", "code": "TJK"}, {"id": 64, "name": "Tanzania", "code": "TZA"}, {"id": 75, "name": "Thailand", "code": "THA"}, {"id": 74, "name": "Togo", "code": "TGO"}, {"id": 235, "name": "Tonga", "code": "TON"}, {"id": 73, "name": "Trinidad and Tobago", "code": "TTO"}, {"id": 71, "name": "Tunisia", "code": "TUN"}, {"id": 70, "name": "Turkey", "code": "TUR"}, {"id": 69, "name": "Turkmenistan", "code": "TKM"}, {"id": 236, "name": "Turks and Caicos Islands", "code": "TCA"}, {"id": 237, "name": "Tuvalu", "code": "TUV"}, {"id": 68, "name": "Uganda", "code": "UGA"}, {"id": 67, "name": "Ukraine", "code": "UKR"}, {"id": 1, "name": "United Kingdom", "code": "GBR"}, {"id": 13, "name": "United States", "code": "USA"}, {"id": 63, "name": "Uruguay", "code": "URY"}, {"id": 62, "name": "Uzbekistan", "code": "UZB"}, {"id": 221, "name": "Vanuatu", "code": "VUT"}, {"id": 238, "name": "Venezuela", "code": "VEN"}, {"id": 84, "name": "Vietnam", "code": "VNM"}, {"id": 61, "name": "Yemen", "code": "YEM"}, {"id": 60, "name": "Zambia", "code": "ZMB"}, {"id": 80, "name": "Zimbabwe", "code": "ZWE"}]}}, "origins": [{"id": 14262, "title": "Worldwide Historical Child Stunting Dataset", "description": "This dataset presents child stunting rates from the systematic review of historical child growth studies performed by Schneider et al. (2026). \"The Decline of Child Stunting in 122 Countries: A Systematic Review of Child Growth Studies Since the Nineteenth Century\".\n\nThe article is a systematic review of 923 child growth studies covering 122 countries from 1814 to 2016, reconstructing historical rates of child stunting before 1990.", "producer": "Schneider et al.", "citationFull": "Schneider EB, Jaramillo Echeverri J, Purcell M, A'Hearn B, Arthi V, Blum M, et al.\nThe decline of child stunting in 122 countries: a systematic review of child growth studies\nsince the 19th century. BMJ Global Health. 2026;11:e018607.\nhttps://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2024-018607, Data available at https://zenodo.org/records/18262234", "urlMain": "https://zenodo.org/records/18262234", "dateAccessed": "2026-03-27", "datePublished": "2026-02-18", "license": {"name": "CC BY 4.0"}}]}