Chapter 2 Sustainable Development Goal 2.2: Malnutrition

Key messages
  • Stunting among children under 5 years of age, with a prevalence of 23.4 percent, continues to be a public health problem in the region despite the declining trend from 2000. Among the subregions, Oceania is experiencing a rise while the other subregions are slowly declining.
  • Overall, the region has double the percent children under five affected by wasting when compared to the world’s average in 2022. Of the subregions, Southern Asia had the highest percent (14.3 percent).
  • The prevalence of overweight children under five in the region has remained the same for 2020 and 2021 (5.1 percent), which is slightly lower than the world prevalence (5.6 percent).
  • Anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 years is a severe problem in the region, with more than 40 percent prevalence in 2019.