Chapter 2 Sustainable Development Goal 2.2: Malnutrition
2.1 STUNTING AMONG CHILDREN UNDER 5
Stunting (low height-for-age) is an effect of chronic malnutrition on child growth, with negative consequences for health and development.
Across Asia and the Pacific, 74.8 million children are stunted, amounting to half of the world’s total. Despite a reduction from 38 percent in 2000, nearly 23 percent of children in the region are still stunted (Table 6). Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand is the most affected subregion with 41.4 percent of children stunted, followed by Southern Asia (30.7 percent), South-eastern Asia (27.4 percent) and Eastern Asia (4.9 percent).
TABLE 6.
Prevalence of stunting among children under 5 (percent)
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
World
33.1
30.7
27.7
24.4
22.0
Asia and the Pacific
38.0
34.9
31.3
26.5
22.9
Eastern Asia
19.5
13.0
8.8
6.3
4.9
Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand
35.6
37.8
40.0
40.4
41.4
South-eastern Asia
38.0
34.4
31.6
29.1
27.4
Southern Asia
48.3
46.2
42.6
36.5
30.7
Note: Please refer to Annex IV for the country coverage of this report. In particular, Central Asia and Western Asia are not included. Source: UNICEF, WHO & World Bank. 2021. Levels and Trends in Child Malnutrition. UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. Key findings of the 2021 edition. https://data.unicef.org/resources/jme-report-2021
FIGURE 4.
Prevalence of stunting among children under 5 in Asia and the Pacific by country
Note: Please refer to Annex IV for the country coverage of this report. In particular, Central Asia and Western Asia are not included. Source: UNICEF, WHO & World Bank. 2021. Levels and Trends in Child Malnutrition. UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. Key findings of the 2021 edition. https://data.unicef.org/resources/jme-report-2021 https://doi.org/10.4060/CC3843EN-fig04
Ten countries in the region have a “very high prevalence” of stunting, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria (>30 percent – Figure 4). These are primarily in Southern Asia – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan – with two countries in South-eastern Asia (Indonesia and Timor-Leste) and two in the Pacific subregion (the Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea). Another eight have a “high prevalence” of stunting (20–30 percent). These include four countries in South-eastern Asia – the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines – with two countries in the Pacific subregion (Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) and one in Southern Asia (Bhutan).
