LEVELS AND TRENDS IN CHILD
MALNUTRITION
UNICEF / WHO / World Bank Group
Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates
Key findings of the 2016 edition
156 MILLION
Stunting rates are dropping but 156
million children under 5 around the
world were still affected in 2015.
42 MILLION
There were 42 million overweight
children in the world in 2015 – an
increase of about 11 million over the
past 15 years.
50 MILLION
In 2015, wasting continued to threaten
the lives of 50 million children under 5
globally.
These new estimates supersede former
analyses and results published by UNICEF,
WHO and the World Bank Group.
UNICEF/ WHO/ World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition 1
Notes on the 2016 edition of the joint malnutrition estimates
In September 2016, UNICEF, WHO and
World Bank Group released joint child
malnutrition estimates for the 1990 –
2015 period, representing the most
recent global and regional figures.
This key findings report summarizes the new numbers and main messages.
Additional materials, including (i) the latest country-level joint malnutrition
dataset; and, (ii) interactive dashboards, which allow users to visualize and
export the global and regional estimates, are available at the following
websites:
UNICEF
WHO
World Bank Group
<uni.cf/jmedashboard>
<www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/estimates>
<data.worldbank.org/child-malnutrition>
Forms of malnutrition* highlighted in this key findings report
Stunting refers to a child
who is too short for his or her
age. Stunting is the failure
to grow both physically
and cognitively and is the
result of chronic or recurrent
malnutrition. The devastating
effects of stunting can last a
lifetime.
Overweight and
stunted
Overweight refers to a
child who is too heavy for
his or her height. This form
of malnutrition results from
expending too few calories
for the amount of food
consumed and increases the
risk of noncommunicable
diseases later in life.
Wasting refers to a child who
is too thin for his or her height.
Wasting, or acute malnutrition,
is the result of recent rapid
weight loss or the failure to
gain weight. A child who is
moderately or severely wasted
has an increased risk of death,
but treatment is possible.
Stunted and
wasted
* Some children suffer from more than one form of malnutrition – such as stunting and overweight or
stunting and wasting. There are currently no joint estimates for these combined conditions.
Strengths and weaknesses of malnutrition data
Prevalence estimates for
stunting and overweight
are relatively robust. It is
therefore possible to track
global and regional changes
in these two conditions over
time.
Wasting and severe wasting
are acute conditions that can
change frequently and rapidly.
This makes it difficult to
generate reliable trends over
time, and as such, this report
provides only most recent
(2015) global and regional
estimates.
2 UNICEF/ WHO/ World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition
The global and regional estimates presented here
are based on data from national household surveys.
These data are collected infrequently and measure
malnutrition at one point in time (e.g. during several
months of field work), making it difficult to capture the
rapid fluctuations in wasting that can occur over the
course of a given year. Incidence data (i.e. the number
of new cases that occur during the calendar year) would
allow for better tracking of changes over time; however,
these data currently do not exist.
Global overview
Malnutrition rates remain alarming: stunting is declining too slowly while
overweight continues to rise
60
200
stunting
55
overweight
wasting
198
198
182
95% confidence interval
169
50
156
150
45
35
Percentage
32.7
30
25
23.2
Number (millions)
40
100
20
10
5
50
50
15
7.4
31
6.2
5.1
0
33
37
2005
2010
42
0
2000
2005
2010
2000
2015
Percentage of stunted, overweight and wasted
children under 5, global, 2000– 2015
2015
Number of stunted, overweight and wasted children
under 5, in millions, global, 2000– 2015
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition.
Africa and Asia bear the greatest share of all forms of malnutrition
Asia 56%
Africa 37%
In 2015, more than half of all
stunted children under 5 lived in
Asia and more than one third lived
in Africa.
Asia 48%
Africa 25%
In 2015, almost half of all
overweight children under 5
lived in Asia and one quarter lived
in Africa.
Asia 68%
Africa 28%
In 2015, more than two thirds of all
wasted children under 5 lived in
Asia and more than one quarter lived
in Africa.
UNICEF/ WHO/ World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition 3
Regional overview: prevalence
Two out of four regions have experienced slow progress for stunting reductions
Percentage of stunted, overweight and wasted children under 5, by United Nations region, 2000 – 2015
Africa
Asia*
Oceania**
Latin America
and Caribbean
60
50
38
38
38
37
32
30
24
18
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group – Joint Malnutrition Estimates, 2016 edition.
Note: *Asia excluding Japan; **Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand.
Africa has made only
limited progress on
stunting since 2000
compared with other
regions
AfricaAfrica
Asia AsiaLAC LAC
-17% -17%-36% -36%-39% -39%
Both Asia and Latin
America and Caribbean
have cut stunting rates
by over one third since
2000 while Africa saw a
reduction of only one sixth
during the same period.
Progress for
stunting within
Asia have been
uneven since
2000
9
stunting
overweight
More data
are needed to
generate reliable
estimates for
Oceania
Southern
Asia Asia
Eastern
Asia Asia
Southern
Eastern
-30% -30%
-69% -69%
Stunting rates in Eastern
Asia have dropped by more
than two thirds since 2000,
compared with Southern
Asia, where stunting
declined by less than one
third during the same
period.
4 UNICEF/ WHO/ World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition
2015
2010
2005
5
2000
4
2010
2015
2010
2005
2000
6
2005
5
0
2000
6
11
7
1
7
wasting
95% confidence interval
Progress in
Latin America
and Caribbean is
aligned with global
goals
ON TRACK
Based on available data,
stunting rates in Oceania
have been stagnant for
the past 15 years, while
rates of overweight
have nearly doubled.
However, confidence
intervals are very large.
2015
9
8
2015
10
2010
9
2005
20
2000
Percentage
40
Improvements in
malnutrition in the
region are encouraging.
Continued vigilance will
be needed to maintain
success and avoid
an increase in child
overweight.
Sub-regional overview: prevalence 2015
Five sub-regions have
stunting rates that
exceed 30 per cent
Percentage of stunted
children under 5, by United
Nations sub-region, 2015
In three sub-regions
more than 10 per cent
of children under 5 are
overweight
Percentage of overweight
children under 5, by United
Nations sub-region, 2015
The wasting rate
in Southern Asia is
approaching a critical
public health emergency
Percentage of wasted
children under 5, by United
Nations sub-region, 2015
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition.
Note: *Eastern Asia excluding Japan; **Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand, *** Australia and New Zealand, regional average based on Australian data, ****Northern
America regional average based on United States data. These maps are stylized and not to scale and do not reflect a position by UNICEF, WHO or World Bank Group on the legal
status of any country or territory or the delimitation of any frontiers.
UNICEF/ WHO/ World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition 5
Regional overview: numbers affected
In Africa, the number of stunted children is rising
Number of stunted children under 5, by United Nations region, 2000 and 2015
160
-34%
Number (millions)
120
100
2000
16%
80
60
-42%
40
20
0
Western Africa
accounts for half of
the stunting increase
in Africa; there were
4 million more stunted
children in Western
Africa in 2015 than
in 2000
2015
140
50.4 58.5
Africa
133.6 88.0
Asia*
10.5
6.1
0.4
Latin America
and Carribean
0.5
Oceania**
The number of overweight children is on the rise in Africa and Asia
Number of overweight children under 5, by United Nations region, 2000 and 2015
40
30
Number (millions)
The number of
overweight children
under 5 in Africa has
increased by more
than 50 per cent
since 2000
2015
35
2000
41%
25
20
56%
15
10
5
0
6.8
10.5
Africa
14.2 20.1
Asia*
3.9
0.1
3.9
Latin America
and Carribean
0.1
Oceania**
The majority of children under 5 suffering from wasting and severe wasting live in Asia
Number of wasted and severely wasted children under 5, by United Nations region, 2015
33.9 million children under 5 in
Asia are wasted, of which
33.9
In Africa, 14.1 million children
under 5 are wasted, of which
11.9 million
14.1
are severely wasted
11.9
4.3 million
are severely wasted
4.3
Asia*
Africa
0.1
0.04
0.7
0.2
Latin America and Carribean
= 1 million moderately wasted
Oceania**
= 1 million severely wasted
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition. Note: *Asia excluding Japan; **Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand.
6 UNICEF/ WHO/ World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition
Country income groupings overview
Upper-middle-income countries have more than halved their stunting rates since 2000
Percentage of stunted, overweight and wasted children under 5, by country income classification, 2000 – 2015
60
Low-income
50
Lower-middle-income
47
High-income*
Upper-middle-income
46
37
33
19
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition.
* High-income countries: low (<50 per cent) population coverage in all time periods.
Note: At the time of printing Argentina was not classified by the World Bank’s income
classification and was therefore not included in the estimates for any income group.
wasting
2015
2010
2015
95% confidence interval
The number of overweight children has
increased most rapidly in lower-middleincome countries
Number of stunted children under 5, by country
income classification, 2000 and 2015
Number of overweight children under 5, by country
income classification, 2000 and 2015
40
2015
35
2000
30
Number (millions)
-22%
120
Number (millions)
6
3
2
6
5
Low-income countries are the only group
with more stunted children today than
15 years ago
140
100
80
8%
-60%
40
20
0
overweight
stunting
160
60
2005
2000
2015
2015
2010
2005
2000
0
7
7
2
7
5
4
2010
4
3
2005
10
2010
12
8
2005
20
2000
30
2000
Percentage
40
35.2 37.9
131.0 102.8
32.7 13.2
Lowincome
Lower-middleincome
Upper-middleincome
-57%
4.0
5%
20
15
42%
10
2.6
20%
3.6
0
High-income*
2000
60%
25
5
1.7
2015
Low-income
10.2 16.3
11.8 12.5
Lower-middleincome
Upper-middleincome
3.4
4.0
High-income*
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition. *High-income countries: low (<50 per cent) population coverage in all time periods. Note: At the
time of printing Argentina was not classified by the World Bank’s income classification and was therefore not included in the estimates for any income group.
While less than half of all children under 5 live in lower-middle-income countries, two thirds
of all stunted children live there
Share of under-5 population, by
country income grouping, 2015
Share of stunted children
under 5 in 2015
Lower-middle, 47%
Upper-middle,
26%
Low, 15%
High,12%
24%
of all stunted
children live in
low-income
countries
66% of all
stunted children live
in lower-middleincome countries
9%
of all stunted children live
in upper-middle-income
countries
1%
of all stunted
children live in
high-income
countries
UNICEF/ WHO/ World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition 7
This brochure was prepared by: the Data and Analytics Section of the Division
of Data, Research and Policy, UNICEF New York; the Department of Nutrition for
Health and Development, WHO Geneva; and the Development Data Group of the
World Bank, Washington DC. September 2016.
Copyright © 2016 by the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health
Organization and World Bank Group
Email: [email protected]
data.unicef.org
Email: [email protected]
www.who.int/nutrition
Email: [email protected]
data.worldbank.org
8 UNICEF/ WHO/ World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition